


There's an American in the Tower! (The Secret Chapters)

by Literatekatana



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, F/M, Hufflepuff Pride, Movie 1: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Slytherin Pride, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2019-09-06 03:56:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 82,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16824625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Literatekatana/pseuds/Literatekatana
Summary: A/N: I took a moment to review the story "There's an American in the Tower!" and I realized that I was in such a rush to write "The Son of Alphard" and was basically flying by the seat of my pants from chapter to chapter that I didn't divulge everything that I had thought of or knew to have happened in the story. Which is really lame, and kind of cheating out my readers. So, as a gift to anyone who is still reading, and still loves the saga of Lian Kowalski, allow me to present the secret chapters.To any new readers: either check out the original or hang on to your socks because this is the true sequel to "There's an American in the Dungeon's!" Harry Potter story, AU of the Half-Blood Prince.Enjoy!





	1. Welcome to New York

The street car moved through the traffic as though it were not there. Horns honked and people walked around as if they owned the place.  _ Americans, _ I thought with a groan. It was late in the afternoon, or early in the morning, or something. My brain was feeling really fuzzy and I couldn’t fully trust my sense of time. Still underage, we couldn’t technically travel instantaneously across the ocean, and using the floo network internationally required special permission from both governments. Permission that the British Ministry was unwilling to give to three people undeniably connected to known Death Eaters. 

So, I got the unique opportunity to travel with the Malfoy’s via Muggle methods. High class methods, such as limousines and private jets, but Muggle methods nonetheless. (Technically they got the hook-ups through Squibs, but they’d sooner die than admit it.) Mrs. Malfoy wore the same expression the entire trip; that of a woman who was disgusted by her surroundings, and was above everything and everyone. Draco mirrored her expressions in the presence of crowds, but in the privacy of the three of us he either slept or gazed quietly out the window. As for me, I fidgeted restlessly for the greater part of the trip, unable to relax or sleep. 

I had to see her. Now, more than ever. 

I’d tried to write to her since that day on the Hogwarts Express, but the minute I returned to my empty home reality was waiting for me. I was the head of my house, and my first duty was to give my father a proper burial. My next task, per pureblood traditions, would’ve been to avenge his death. Unfortunately, I’d have to hold off on that because the man who had killed my father happened to be occupying a cell in Azkaban, and I wasn’t keen on paying a visit. 

“Is that it?” Mrs. Malfoy leaned forward in her seat, frowning at the town house, or what was left of it. Draco and I gazed at our apparent destination, feeling a great sense of disappointment wash over us. The building looked more like the Shrieking Shack than anything, yet it was the address Lian had signed with on her letter. “Is she an orphan?”

“You don’t have to stay, Mother,” Draco told her, neither confirming nor denying Lian’s familial status. “Go on to the estate, we’ll catch up later.”

“I’ll at least wait in the car, in case this is all a trap or something,” she sniffed, as the car pulled to a stop along the curbside. 

“Thank you, Narcissa,” I said politely. Last year I’d have referred to her as ‘Mrs. Malfoy’, but I was the head of the Nott household now. There was a certain decorum I had to follow. “For everything.”

She almost smiled at me, but her eyes were soft. “I should thank you. I was grateful for the chance to escape London, what with...recent events.”

With another word of thanks and a slight bow, I opened the door and stepped out into the Manhattan heat, which I was convinced would be my undoing. But it was worth it, if she was at the end of all this. 

Walking towards the decrepit house, with it’s caved-in roof and ashened walls, I did notice that the only thing still standing was the front door. That was odd because it had no hinges upon which to hang. 

“You first,” muttered Draco as he walked behind me, glancing up and down the street nervously. 

“This was your idea,” I pointed out. I would’ve never thought to just strut into the American continent and hunt her down if Draco hadn’t provided the vision and means. He claimed he was here for the books by Merlin but I suspected he wanted to get away from London as much as his mother did. 

“She’s your ally.”

He had me there, even if I still was vague on the meaning of that word. Squaring my shoulders I walked up the steps and knocked on the door. The instant my knuckles came into contact with the wood, or maybe the moment my foot fell upon the top step, the townhouse winked into life. The crisped remains turned into solid walls, high windows and a slated roof. It stood about three stories tall, maybe four, depending if they had an attic or not. The door was painted a dark blue on my second knock, by which point Draco had joined me on the front step and nearly jumped out of his suit. 

“What the-”

The door opened inward and a boy about our age frowned at us. He had dark blond hair, piercing blue eyes and wore a t-shirt with the emblem  _ Spiderman _ scribed across the front. I was momentarily distracted by the cartoon image of a man in a red and blue bodysuit shooting something out of his wrist when the boy spoke. “What do you want?”

He sounded neither friendly or hostile, but perhaps confused at our being on his doorstep. I wracked my brain, knowing Lian mentioned having a brother but unsure if she’d told me his name at some point. If this was even her brother…

“We’re looking for Kowalski,” said Draco, looking down his nose at the guy. Granted, he’d lifted his chin slightly to make it seem more intimidating. 

The boy gazed back, completely unphased. “Uh huh. Lemme guess, Pigpimples?”

“What?”

“Do you mean ‘Hogwarts’?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He grimaced. “How did you even know this address?”

I held up Lian’s letter, well technically it was a scroll, but on the flip side was printed her home address.  _ I assumed. _ The longer the boy wearing a  _ Spiderman _ t-shirt frowned at us as the hot sun boiled our blood, the more I doubted we were in the right place. He kept staring at us skeptically, and just as it occurred to me that we could either walk away or overpower him, he stepped back from the entrance and waved us inside. “Aight then.”

“Thank you,” I crossed the threshold and immediately experienced a sense of relief as the house seemed to be charmed to keep the interior cool and refreshing. 

The boy sniggered at the look on my face, eying the both of us apprehensively still. Draco was too busy scrutinizing the upholstery to care. A glance about the place gave me mixed feelings as well. It looked...plain on the inside. The furniture itself might as well have been purchased at a Muggle’s’R’Us around the corner, and not all of the pictures moved. In fact, most of them were still, staring straight ahead with blank, but happy faces, stuck in a moment forever. It was kind of spooky. Not only that, but the entry way opened to a kind of sitting room to the right, which was also a kitchen/dining area towards the back. To the left was a glass door with a wooden frame leading to a small library or office. Or both. Dead ahead was a narrow staircase with a suspiciously shiny banister. I saw doors leading off the landing up there, but most of them were closed. 

My eyes were drawn to the family portrait near the top of the stairs on the upper wall. It confirmed for me that we were in the right place, as I recognized Mr. and Mrs. Kowalski, sitting on a bench as their children stood around them. I felt relieved to see the subjects breathing, and there was Lian, grinning like she had all the answers. The boy who’d led us in and was currently sat in an armchair frowning at us was featured also, and his portrait version was giving me the same look. There were two other children I’d yet to meet the real versions of yet, but if this was home, it might not be too long before-

“So,” Draco coughed uncomfortably. “Where is Kowalski?”

The boy quirked up an eyebrow. “You came all this way and you don’t know?”

“We just thought we could catch her at home-”

“Catch her? She’s not an animal.” He thought about that statement before amending, “Well, most of the time. Try again.”

“We really need to see her,” I spoke up before Draco could say something stupid again. “I’m sorry for the intrusion but we didn’t think more than just wanting to find her.”

Her brother seemed to relax a little bit, which was more than I could say for myself or Draco. We were still standing just inside the house, unsure of exactly how welcome we were. “Well, I suppose that makes sense, but you’re out of luck. She’s at work, and won’t be home til-”

“What do you mean, ‘she’s at work’?” said Draco incredulously.

“I mean exactly what it sounds like. People our age get jobs to earn money so they can pay to go to expensive international schools that there was a slightly illegal scholarship for but was dissolved at the conclusion of last year.” The teenage boy took a huge breath before adding, “Who are you guys again?”

I wondered if he could see my elation to hear that she was at least planning on returning to Hogwarts this year. “I’m Theodore Nott, and this irritable halfwit is Draco.”

Her brother eyed us in apprehension, likely trying to calculate the best judgement call he could make given the circumstances. It was a miracle he’d let us in the house at all, and we were ill-prepared to deal with anyone who wasn’t Lian or her parents. I honestly felt nervous under this teenager’s scrutiny. 

“When will Kowalski get off ‘work’?” Draco demanded, saying the word ‘work’ like it was poisonous. 

That was the moment the brother adopted a kind of pedantic demeanor. “Well, one Kowalski got off work around six, while the other Kowalski gets off work around seven,” I glanced towards the clock over the fireplace and felt a shock to the system as I saw that it was half-past six. My internal clock was way off. “And then the only other working Kowalski of the house gets off at ten. You’re gonna have to be more specific, there.”

“Your sister, Lian, when will she be back?” I clarified. Hopefully he could give a plain answer and we could either wait or leave and return at the appropriate time. Anything was better than staying stuck in this situation.

“Ten. She won’t finish her assistant teaching job until then.”

“Teaching?” I repeated, unable to imagine Lian being paid to teach anything other than sarcasm. “Teaching what?”

“Dance,” he answered, shrugging. “You’re welcome to hang out until she gets back. I’m sure our folks won’t mind, they almost never do.”

I glanced at Draco, who looked about as desperate to leave as I did then, but just when we were about to find an appropriate way to decline the half-hearted invitation, a door from the upstairs burst open. Seconds later a young girl came sliding down the banister, hopped onto the floor and skidded towards the boy in the armchair. “JJ! Joey just called and said he saw John Lurie at his cousin’s pizza sha-a-” she broke off abruptly, turning her head to examine Draco and me thoroughly. She kept her mouth agape as her voice slowly died out, until she resembled a fish with her exaggerated, surprised expression.

She looked nothing like the boy; she had short, wavy black hair and large brown eyes. She was skinny and clearly at an adolescent age but clearly going through a growth spurt. 

“Phi,” the boy clicked his fingers at her until she blinked and became human once more. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”

Snapping out of her stupor and stepping into the role of someone without shame, she grinned up at us. “Hi! I’m Seraphina and I have got to ask...did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

The brother recoiled somewhat; apparently this behavior was not new to him, but also not wanted. Under my breath I replied, “...crawled outta hell more like…”

“What?” Seraphina asked quickly, not having heard me but caught the movement of my lips. 

Suddenly, the fireplace surged to life, causing Seraphina, Draco and myself to jump in surprise. The boy looked relieved, if anything, as he declared, “Mom’s home.”

Mrs. Kowalski stepped gracefully out of the green flames, and sized up her children and the two intruders within seconds. Her son waved cheerfully, or sarcastically, I honestly couldn’t tell. However, I did feel it necessary to mind my manners, as Draco seemed to be malfunctioning beside me, so I couldn’t count on him. Stepping forward to meet her, I extended my hand to shake hers. “Mrs. Kowa-”

She beamed up at me as she slapped my hand away. “Call me Amaya.” And then she pulled me into a hug, effectively knocking all the air out of my lungs. She pulled back and surveyed my face after a moment, still smiling. “It’s nice to see you again, Theodore! Who’s your friend?” she nodded over at Draco, already moving in on him. I half expected him to cut his losses and run away from her.

“D-Draco. My name is Draco M-Malfoy.”

Mrs. K stood at 167 cm, if I had to guess, and yet she still managed to instill more fear in Draco Lucius Malfoy than most Death Eaters we knew. “Good to meet you, Draco,” she said warmly before hugging him too. She stepped away if only to begin herding us like cattle into the small kitchen. “When was the last time you boys had a decent meal? I’d whip something up but I’m afraid you’ve caught me without a lot of groceries and anyway it’s our family’s Take-Out Tuesday. My husband’s bringing home dinner tonight, and if I call him now we’ll have enough for seconds and possibly thirds. How’d you boys feel about Chinese?”

“We had Chinese last week, Mom,” Seraphina whined, following and sitting on a tall stool by the bar. “I could meet Dad at Joey’s cousin’s place and bring home several boxes signed by the man, the myth, the-”

“Honey, let the guests have a say and you know pizza tastes better at the shack than at home. We’d all have to go meet Dad in that scenario.” Mrs. K picked up a strange looking device and began to hit buttons on its underside before placing it against her ear. “You eat pizza all the time, anyways.”

Seraphina pouted and looked at Draco for help. “You like pizza, right?”

“Uh.”

“Chinese sounds great,” I said, just wanting to drive the attention off of the both of us.

Amaya pointed at me. “I knew I liked you. Oh hey sweetie,” she turned her head away, apparently speaking into the black, curved device she was still holding against her face. “You’re already in line? Great! We have company tonight, get extra everything okay? Love you!” She took the device away and hit another button. “He’ll be home soon. Hope you’re hungry!” 

With a loud clap of her hands she marched towards the office/library space and walked inside, removing her summer cloak and setting down her bag. Whatever she planned to do next I never knew because Seraphina was poking my hand, effectively claiming my attention and irritation at the same time. 

“So what was your name, handsome?” she asked pleasantly.

“How old are you?” I asked, squinting across at her. 

“Age is just a number,” she replied instantly. “It’s not gonna matter in a few years, right?”

“Nott,” Draco muttered. “Can I have a word?” He stood abruptly and marched back towards the front door. I followed him swiftly, suspecting what was coming before it hit. “Are you insane? We’re here for Kowalski, not her entire bloody family. She’s not here, and won’t be for several hours. Can’t we just leave?”

I sighed. “If you want to go, you can.”

He jutted his chin at me. “You can’t be serious, you actually want to stay with these…” he stopped himself but the damage was done.

“Freaks?” The frowning teenager had moved from his armchair to linger by the staircase. “What? Just because a house-elf didn’t answer our door and our parents had the audacity to openly love and spawn more than one child?”

“That’s not what I-” Draco tried to say.

“Stop. Here’s what I know: I don’t like either of you, I don’t want my sisters anywhere near you, and you’re liars who have no business in my home. Also, you’re both incredibly rude, you probably don’t care that you don’t know my name.”

“You never offered it.”

“You never asked. It’s Jake, FYI.”

Draco looked confused. “Eff-why what?”

Jake blinked. “You’re not serious? Oh Morrigan you are. Hoo boy.” He cleared his throat. “How do you qualify to...everything I know is a lie.” 

“Are you alright?” I asked, not sure I wanted the answer.

“How are you friends with Jules?” Jake demanded. 

“Who’s Jules?”

The front door opened, saving Draco from getting strangled by Jake Kowalski, as his father entered carrying plastic bags that smelled of some kind of spice. “Who’s hungry?”

\---

Dinner was an interesting experience. Mr. K was a serious-minded person, who had chosen to spend his life with Mrs. K, who was energetic and direct. I don’t think she allowed the conversation to die even for a second. She talked to me, to Draco, her own children; she asked about our day and our thoughts about it. She asked about Hogwarts, and our thoughts on that. She asked about everything I’d never expected to talk about over copious amounts of fried chicken, noodles and vegetables. I learned I liked Chinese food. I didn’t like being the center of the Kowalski’s attention, as they had an annoying habit of focusing on you. Like, laser focus. I was starting to understand where Lian’s personality had spawned from. 

Draco was a bit more in his element under all the attention. He seemed to forget the obvious Muggle tones of their lifestyle and completely flourished under their observation. He had Seraphina drooling over her fried rice within six sentences. When Jake noticed this as I had, he kicked her chair out from under her and watched as she fell over. This led to a Muggle wrestling match, and their parents didn’t even bat an eyelid. 

“So how long are you boys going to be in town?” Mr. K asked, guiding us to the sitting room and gesturing for us to take a seat somewhere in the vicinity. “Do you need a place to stay?”

“No, thank you,” said Draco, having found his manners about half-way through his egg rolls. “That, at least we’ve prepared for.” 

Amaya had kept piling food before us, insisting we were gaunt and in need of nutrition. I was stuffed and about this close to falling asleep on the sofa, but I didn’t want to be rude. Forcing my eyes to stay open and my posture to remain correct, I noticed Mrs. K checking her wristwatch. “Okay...Julie should be home in a couple hours. What do you guys think—movie or board game?” 

Seraphina, who had slumped into a large, overstuffed cushion upon the floor, bolted to her feet. “We should watch  _ Star Wars _ !” 

“I think  _ Godfather _ would be more appropriate,” Jake mumbled from where he’d settled beside his father. 

“Ten points from Pukwudgie!” Seraphina snapped. “Ju-Ju would be ashamed to call you brother!”

“It was just a suggestion, don’t get all high and mighty on me. Ten points from Wampus for overstepping.”

“O-Kay!” Amaya held up her wand, the first sign of magic in the house since she’d arrived home by floo powder. “I think we’re gonna do a board game.” 

Her squabbling children stilled as the wand drew their attention, but they weren’t about to surrender. “But  _ Star Wars _ is—”

“Good idea honey,” replied Mr. K, speaking as though his kids had not. “ _ Clue _ ?”

“If I could ask,” Draco said politely, drawing the focus back to him. “What is a movie?”

All four Kowalski’s stared blankly at him, then at me, and back at Draco. After a stifling pause, Mrs. Kowalski said, “Sera, go get  _ A New Hope _ .”

Her daughter punched the air in victory and dashed to the wooden cabinet in the corner of the room, upon which was perched an odd black box. She opened a drawer, took out a paper box, unsheathed a black rectangle and shoved it into a larger, black rectangle with buttons and switches all over it. She pressed a few of these, hit a switch on the box and stepped back while Jake turned the lights off. 

Draco looked at me, fear flickering in his grey eyes, suspecting some weird Muggle ritual. He went to protest, to explain he just wanted a verbal answer right before our ears were blasted to smithereens by a loud crash of percussion and trumpets. Words began to move across the screen in the most baffling manner, and I knew that despite how full and sleepy I was from the food and sleep deprivation, I would keep my eyes wide and wondering as the ‘movie’ made itself known. 

—

The front door slammed shut and my eyes flew open. The last thing I recalled was Luke Skywaker blowing up a moon or something. Guess my exhaustion was stronger than my curiosity after all. I looked around just in time to see a pair of red tennis shoes vanishing upstairs. 

_ Lian.  _

I pushed off a blanket—when had that happened?—and followed those shoes up the stairs, eyes trained on the door that opened and shut in her wake. Dimly I heard Draco’s voice back in the sitting room but I couldn’t backtrack, not now, when she was finally here. 

I moved to the door, knocking on it a few times. A voice,  _ her _ voice, answered, though admittedly the reply was muffled. I assumed it was alright. 

Why was my stomach suddenly filled with butterflies and all that nonsense? It was just Lian, my ally, my— I pushed the door open and was met with another narrow staircase, no banister this time, just walls. I climbed these cautiously before reaching the top and cast my gaze around. 

Compared to the rest of the compact living space, this room had clearly been enchanted with an undetectable enlargement charm. About as large as the entire downstairs, with one wall comprised entirely of a mirror, and the opposite almost entirely window, the two normal walls were covered with pictures and posters, all of which were thankfully moving. Close to the ceiling, she had a shelf built into the wall and mirror parts, lined with numerous books and charts and random objects of some sentimental value. In the corner furthest from the door, a study area was set up, with a desk, parchment, glass phials, a cauldron and drawers overflowing with things she’d need on hand. In the other corner, facing the large window-wall, was mounted a bed. Like a bunk without the lower part and support. Briefly I wondered how she got up there. 

The room’s only occupant was standing by her wardrobe, removing her—

With a jolt I stepped back down the stairs, almost tripping myself until I reached the door again. It opened before I could grip the handle and Draco made an appearance. “Sure, just leave me with the lot of them. Have a nice nap, did we?”

“Go back,” I tried to tell him but he was already marching up the stairs. “Draco!”

“I did not wait four hours to chicken out-!” He snapped, reaching the top and gazing around. “Kowalski!”

“Malfoy!”

“What’s this I hear about you ‘working’?” He didn’t sound embarrassed or surprised, maybe the coast was clear. Or maybe he really was  _ that _ rude. 

“I’m trying to make an honest living, Malfoy, you should try it sometime.”

_ Ouch _ . “What the-! What the hell is that?!”  _ Now he sounds surprised. Also scared.  _ I ran back up the stairs to either look or pull him away, whichever made more sense. 

Lian was facing us, leaning against her wardrobe, wearing an enormous hoodie with the sleeves ripped off and cotton shorts. She stretched her bare feet across the wooden floor as she spoke, brandishing the thing that had spooked Draco. 

“It’s a prosthetic. You didn’t think I’d live the rest of my life with a stump of a right arm, did you?” 

Without any expectations or warnings, the piece was grotesquely ingenious. Still possessing her shoulder and bicep, the prosthetic arm latched around her elbow, her forearm, wrist and hand entirely remodeled in metal, gears and wires. Still, it was so detailed in its design, I could imagine it being a glove that she could just remove to reveal the flesh and bone beneath. 

“What happened?” Was not the greeting I had planned upon, but there was no taking it back now. 

Lian turned her eyes on me, and all my nerves seemed to fade. Why had I been apprehensive to begin with? She was Lian Kowalski, the half-blood who had turned Slytherin on its head in a matter of months. And she was my—

“Well now, my dear ally,” Lian smiled warmly and crossed the floor, stepping on and over a footstool in the process. “You might recall the events of almost a month ago down in the bowels of your Ministry?”

Whether she cared or noticed how Draco and I winced, she didn’t say. “Vividly.”

“Mhm. While I was doing the job of an older and supposedly wiser man, I crossed wands with a witch by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange.” Draco’s eyes grew wide. “She took my arm with a dark curse and after several agonizing days, this was completed and fitted to replace it.” 

Yup. That was the girl I’d traversed an ocean and sky to find. The bluntness was refreshing after the many whispers that haunted my footsteps in London, but I had ten months to grow accustomed to the way she talked. Draco was still learning, and in that moment I knew he was filled with inner conflict. 

“Bellatrix is Draco’s Aunt.” I stated, causing my friend to shoot me a hateful and pleading glare, while my ally blinked and clasped her hands, metal and flesh, behind her back. 

“Oh really?” She glanced at Draco, who had taken a deep breath and shut his eyes, expecting her anger. “In that case…” She stepped right into his personal space, took his face in her hands and angled his head until he opened his eyes and stared directly into her own. “...You’re not here for fun, are you?” 

Draco swallowed whatever harsh retort had risen in his throat. “No.”

She held him in place, almost studying his grey eyes in silence before she took a deep breath. “Figures.” 

Draco stood still, frowning a question as they remained lock in the longest look ever. “Merlin’s hat...you’re a Legilimens, aren’t you?” 

_ A what? _

Lian raised her eyebrows a fraction. “So what if I am?” 

“You’re scanning my memories right now—I recognize the sensation now, even if it’s really subtle—how long have you trained to be one? Is that another trick they teach at your American school—Great Salazar is that how you—no, of course it is. So many questions about you just got answe—”

“What’d you mean ‘now’?” Lian interrupted him. “You never noticed at school.”

“You looked into my private—”

“Not all of them, and not all the time-!”

“If I could interrupt,” I cleared my throat loudly, breaking their gaze as they both turned on me. I was feeling an ugly sensation in my chest, like a many fanged, vicious creature had awoken. “What’s a Legilimens?” I recognized the term, but couldn’t place the definition just then. 

Lian chewed her lip and moved closer to me. I felt the creature inside relax as I stared into her fiery brown eyes. “A Legilimens is a person who can look into another’s mind and through practice can interpret or discern their thoughts, feelings and memories.” She tilted her head at Draco, smirking slightly. “For example, I just saw your little trip through the American customs. Whatever brought you here must have been serious if all three of you were willing to navigate the Muggle world.”

“Yes, about that…” Draco glanced around her room, and I’d bet ten galleons he was worried she had more siblings hiding out up there. Maybe if she had more in the way of furniture I’d worry about that too, but other than the walls and corners, her room was empty. What was up with that? “Are we secure in here?”

Lian looked around her large room. “Just us and the mirror images, Malfoy. I suppose I could lock the door if you’re entirely paranoid, but that runs the risk of pissing off my dad.”

“The jolly man downstairs?” Draco sniffed. “Yeah, he’s terrifying.”

“He can be,” she said seriously. 

“Do you work every night?” I asked, if only to be apart of their back and forth.

She took out her wand from her hoodie’s pocket and waved it at the door. I didn’t hear it lock but assumed she’d done something to calm Malfoy’s concerns. “Yep. Weekdays I’m at the studio, and weekends I’m at the restaurant.” Biting her wand gingerly, she reached up to twist her hair into knot, then used her wand to hold it in place. “Days start at 6am, I study with Aunt May for a few hours so when I go back to school I’ll be able to keep up with maintenance. Then I-”

“Do you have time during the day to spare? Or are we going to have to seize you at night?”

Lian raised an eyebrow at Draco’s choice of words. “Maybe you should explain what you’re doing here, then we can discuss my office hours.”

Draco looked at me for help, and I knew he was doubting everything about our plan from start to finish. The revelation of her ability made a certain aspect of it more clear, but there were still holes. Could we really tell her? I glanced at the metal arm, thinking maybe she had enough on her plate without our issues. 

“Oh for crying out loud,” she groaned. “Just say it. If the last year taught you anything, you should know I can keep a secret.”

I took a shuddering breath. “We came here to see you, yeah, but...we were also sent to you...by Professor Snape.”

Draco cleared his throat before finally admitting. “We need your help.”

Lian glanced between us, apparently trying to glean the truth of our statements before reacting. “Okay.” She moved towards the large window, sitting on the hardwood floor and resting her back against the glass, facing us. “Have a seat, gentlemen.” We sat, Draco more reluctantly than I. “You should probably start at the beginning.”

She had to be exhausted, why was she being so patient?

“You recall the article published in the Quibbler a few months ago?” Draco said, not looking at her but out the window at the New York sights. There was no way her house was high enough to see the view, and I suspected it was enchanted like the rest of the room. Maybe it was similar to the spell on the Great Hall’s ceiling, except instead of reflecting the sky it showed her the city. 

“I seem to remember a certain subject I couldn’t exactly discuss over breakfast, yes…” I remembered when Potter’s interview came out, naming names of all the Dark Lord’s followers that he’d seen the night he returned. Everyone in Slytherin had read it and many had plans to strangle Harry Potter, but the damage had been done. Lian never mentioned it to any of us, even though I knew she’d read it.  _ Talk about tact. _

“Yes, well, with the arrest of my father, aunt, uncles and many others, not to mention Elias’s death,” Draco glanced my way as I grimaced. “The wizarding world has elected to alienate us and the Dark Lord welcomed us with open arms.”

“What!”

“Calm down,” I said soothingly. “He makes it sound like we ran to him when really he tracked us down.” Lian made no further comment, but I knew she was fighting to keep her peace. Her lips were thinner than I’d ever seen them. “Our entire lives we were taught to believe in what he’s trying to accomplish. We’re basically legacies of his cause and…”

“We didn’t think our lives would change much. We’re still in school, after all, it’s not like we’d be much use to him.” Draco said, back to frowning out the window. “But it was only after we’d sworn in that he revealed what he wanted to use us for.”

“You got into Hogwarts last year because Umbridge wanted you to be her eyes and ears on Potter and Dumbledore,” I was watching her face as she listened. I knew she was biting her tongue at this point, refusing to interrupt us no matter what. “Which is exactly what we’re supposed to do...except instead of eyes and ears, he wants us to kill one or both of them.”

She raised her eyebrows but maintained her silence.

“Which, believe it or not,” Draco sighed. “Is not something I want on my record.”

“We went to Professor Snape, who is a double agent for both sides. Which is truly the most Slytherin thing I’ve ever hear of, but the point is: he directed us to you.” Her eyebrows dropped down her forehead as she frowned at that information. “He told us you’d taken Occlumency lessons with him and that you would be able to teach us.”

Her expression practically oozed ‘Oh,  _ did _ he now…?’ She waited for us to expound but when we did not she said, “And why would that help you two with your dilemma?”

“Because while the Dark Lord is a master of manipulation, Professor Snape explained that practicing Occlumency will help us keep our own minds while still keeping my family safe from his wrath.” Draco explained after a long pause. “As it is, if I don’t do as he commands, he’ll kill my mother.”

Lian bit her lip, showing the first sign of sympathy in her eyes as she looked at Draco, who still refused to look at her. I realized he didn’t want her looking into his thoughts, and wondered if she was aware of my private thoughts and feelings...given the amount of times I’d stared boldly into her eyes, I was basically inviting her to review them at her leisure…

“Maybe ‘keep your minds’ is too specific,” she said, rubbing at her eyes. “You two are thinking really loudly right now, even my sister could hear you.”

I felt my stomach leap into my ribcage in alarm. Several questions filled my brain, but Draco was faster. “You can hear us thinking?”

“You have no protection and you’re both under large amounts of stress and normally I keep my own defenses up but I was curious as to what I’d have to work with and...yeah.” she finished lamely, shrugging her shoulders. “Fi isn’t quite as strong as I am, and she doesn’t care about developing this particular skill given what she’s seen me go through.”

“How many members of your family can hear our thoughts?” I asked, feeling sick. If I was ashamed of the quiet thoughts I’d had whilst her parents and siblings hosted us, I hated to think what Draco might be going through. 

“None of them, not even Seraphina. She can if she tries, but like I just said, she doesn’t care. And anyway she’s too green to hear actual thought, it’d be more like flashes of emotion.” Gesturing at the space between the three of us, she added, “I know you two better, and can interpret your emotions correctly for the most part. Sometimes I get actual thought, when I really try and when you’re defenseless. But right now, you’re both scared  shitless and I swear I’m hearing you in stereo and it’s driving me nuts!”

“That could work for us,” Draco sneered. I knew he was angry now, that was the sneer he saved for Harry Potter. “We’ll drive the Dark Lord insane with our fear. Perfect.”

“Oh sure, you go ahead and try that out, and I’ll sit back and watch as he takes your fears and turns them against you. Oh wait! He’s already done that! Back to square one then.”

“I was promised sanctuary and guidance, Kowalski! I didn’t sink to your level to be scolded!”

“Sink to my level?! Have you ever actually asked for help before, Malfoy, because you’re an absolute-”

“Guys!” I yelled to be heard over their argument. I’d almost forgotten they hadn’t liked each other this last year, and despite Draco’s quiet attitude towards this plan, it must have been eating away at him inside. I was too eager to get here, to see her again to notice or care. Not to mention, both had extremely headstrong personas. Of course they were going to fight. I sat there between them, their eyes blazing but on me instead of each other. “This isn’t going to work if you can’t talk to each other civilly.”

“I don’t believe it’s going to work at all, as she’s neglected to say she’ll help us. Are you spying for the government again, Kowalski? Gathering intel to turn us in? Forget the bloody trace I’ll modify your memory right n-” Lian launched herself off the glass and tackled Draco, releasing a feral roar as they clashed. The entire exchange lasted maybe ten seconds. Quidditch had been good to Draco, giving him strength, but Lian had the advantage in flexibility, skill, and a steel limb. She had him on his stomach, his arms locked in a painful twist, with her knee planted on the small of his back. “Bloody hell.” Draco’s gasp was weak, but at least I knew he was alive.

“You enter my country, my home state. You come into my house. You ask for my help. You DARE speak and think to me like that. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t break your arm right now!” I opened my mouth to provide one and she snapped, “Not you!”

The only sounds Draco made for the better part of three minutes were his ragged breaths and a series of grunts as he attempted to break free of the mad American’s grip. I wondered how long Lian could keep him pinned, or how long before Draco could finally think of a reason to walk away from this loft safe and whole. 

“...If you agree to teach us, and we see results before our next summons…” Draco began, sounding less like a reason and more like a bargain but Lian listened all the same. “...I will cover your Hogwarts education expenses.”

Lian blinked. I think she was waiting for a catch. It wasn’t the reason she was hoping for, but it was still a good reason. Wish I’d thought of it first…

“You will speak to and think of my family with respect from now on. You will never use the word ‘Mudblood’ again. And if I don’t think I can trust you completely in a month’s time, I’m out.”

Draco sighed, or tried to; it was more of a squeak. “That’s fair. Do you accept the terms?”

Lian released him, standing up and offering him a hand as he flipped on his back. “I do. Welcome to New York, Mr. Malfoy.”

I sat there numb, thinking that I’d either witnessed the greatest alliance being formed or stood by and allowed the beginning of the end. Either way...no going back now. 


	2. Contrary

_ It is not appropriate to bite my classmates.  _ He’d written the line about a million times by now, meanwhile his partner-in-crime was fixing and cleaning door knobs at the desk beside him. A lot of students had picked up the cruel habit of placing sticking jinxes to them, preventing anyone, but mostly teachers, from entering or exiting a room, and then getting their hands stuck. He would never admit that he was impressed, even though she was using a counterjinx that she’d invented herself. It made sense, as the cause of the problem was an invented spell. Was it weird that the student body caught on to the new and untested spells more than the ones they were supposed to be learning in class?

“Stop staring,” she said without looking up from her mountain of door knobs. “Don’t you have some lines to write?”

“I’ve written them. And anyway it’s a stupid punishment.”

“Would you like to trade?”

He grinned. “You haven’t bitten a classmate, have you?” Quicker than he could react, she’d grabbed his arm and brought it to her mouth, biting his wrist. He gulped while she held it, before slowly releasing, inspecting the mark she’d left.  _ So cute! _

“There.” She waved her wand in a spinning motion and before he’d found his voice again, she had the long scroll of lines and he had the load of half-fixed door knobs. 

He gazed at her teeth imprint on his skin, marveling that someone with such a big mouth could have such a small bite. Truly, she was…

“If you need help with the counterjinx, lemme know,” she said smugly, her quill already flying over the parchment. 

He cleared his throat, reaching for her chin, tilting it towards him as he lowered his face to hers. She allowed this, a teasing smile tugging at those stupid lips of hers… right before they met, she yelled in his face. “Adam! Wake up!” But it was not her voice, it sounded like his brother, River. Uh oh.

He opened his eyes just in time to see his older brother flying through the air, two pillows in hand. “Wakey-wakey!” 

Adam rolled off his bed before he got a face full of feet or feathers. “I’m up! Great Morrigan, I’m up!”

Leo, who was only a year younger than Adam, was making kissy faces in the doorway. “You were dreaming about  _ her _ again, weren’t ya?”

“Shut up,” Adam growled as he dressed for breakfast. Normally he’d slump upstairs in whatever he’d fallen asleep in, but he recalled today being a special occasion. 

“What was it this time?” River asked, clapping him on the back. 

“A memory, though the ending was a little different…” His brothers made mutual noises of interest, but still in a mocking way. “Shut up!”

Leo opened his mouth to say ‘Make me!’ but River pushed him out of the room instead. “Be upstairs in two, Alpha’s making breakfast, and if you don’t beat Logan and Shep to the table-”

“I’ll go hungry, yeah I know.”

Of his nine brothers and sisters, he was closest to River (his real name was Kristopher, but when he was little he couldn’t pronounce his own name and the alias River was born.) Most of his siblings had nicknames, except himself, really. The eldest, Shepherd, had dubbed them for younger kids like River who couldn’t remember them all at first, and on into their adult years, they kinda stuck. 

There was also a kind of irony that they gave each other ‘pet names’, so they all agreed to never share that bit of information with anyone who wasn’t pack.

Adam was seventeen this year, and should be starting his 7th year at Ilvermorny, but if all went according to plan, that would change. 

He climbed the stairs to the kitchen, the delicious smell of eggs, bacon and sausage wafting over him as he did so. Artie was sitting down with Titan, (Arthur, who married Adam’s sister Titania,) and Leo and River were already face deep in breakfast meats, but otherwise, Adam had beaten the rush. He quickly kissed the cook, who shook her spatula at him as he sat between River and Titan and began to feast. His siblings looked about as haggard as himself, bright eyed and bushy haired, but Artie actually looked normal. Adam supposed that was a perk of being ‘normal’. 

Before he knew it, the table was full of the other members of his family. Nyx and Carl (Veronica and Carlos) were seated directly across from himself. He saw Shep and Chevy near the head of the table, next to Dad, opposite Anthem and Logan. Blitz and Nani sat to the left of Nyx, and the birthday boy, Cas, was sat beside where Alpha would sit when she finished cooking. 

“I think that’s enough, Winnie,” Dad called over the general noise and chaos that was a Quince breakfast. “You don’t want kids with distended stomachs, do you?”

“That’s exactly what I want, Hawthorne,” replied Alpha calmly, but turned the stove off all the same. “First one to bring it back has to do the dishes.”

‘Bring it back’, was her way of saying vomit. Classy lady, Adam’s mother. Just before sitting down, she squinted out the window. “Mail’s here.”

Adam went to stand but Titan placed her hand on his leg. “I’ll get it. You’ll flip the table before getting out of this mess.”

“Yeah, stop growing, Adam,” Shep teased from down the table as Titan excused herself and went outside. “You’re making the rest of us look bad.”

“It’s a good sign,” Alpha reminded them all. “One day he’ll be an Alpha in his own right. He just has to conquer the first obstacle.”

“I dunno, Ma,” Cas sniggered. “You haven’t laid eyes on that obstacle, but Leo and I have. If anything, she’ll be the Alpha.”

River cleared his throat. “I’ve seen her too. They’d be well matched.”

“Thank you,” Adam said dryly. 

“Well it’s not like he’ll be conquering anything anytime soon,” said Nyx snidely. “Not after your last report card. We all saw that mess.”

“Don’t be so sure, Nyxie,” Adam shot back. “It’s not like you graduated with honors from Ilvermorny.”

“Or even graduated,” River added under his breath.

“Hey!” Nyx tried to swiped at the two of them from across the table, just when Titan reappeared with a handful of letters. She gave a majority of them to their father but waved the last, wax sealed envelope at Adam. 

“This what you’ve been waiting for, Adam? Whoa-” she gasped as Adam leapt over the table, over Nyx’s attacks and landed on the hard stone floor with relative grace. 

He took the letter from her before anyone could steal it with a short, “Thank you.” But Hawthorne ruined his plans to run off and read it alone.

“Go on then, son, read it aloud.” He prompted, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Good news for you is good news for us all.”

The entire pack watched Adam carefully as he broke the red wax seal, ignoring the shield crest imprinted there. Withdrawing the parchment and unfolding it in full, he cleared his throat and read, “Dear Mr. Quince, we are pleased to inform you that Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has a place for you in the sixth year class. Please find enclosed a list-”

“6th year?” Alpha repeated, stopping Adam from continuing. “There must be a mistake!”

He grimaced at her, aware that every eye was on his face now. “Actually...I wanted to be in the 6th-”

“Whatever for?? You’re on track to graduate at Ilvermorny!”

“Mom,” River began placatingly. “He’s repeating because  _ she _ repeated her fifth year when she transferred.”

Now she looked more bewildered than ever. “I thought this girl was intelligent!”

“She is!” Adam insisted before anyone could say otherwise. “She was second only to me in our year.” 

“Then why-”

“Her brother said it was one of the conditions for her going there in the first place.” Leo supplied. He was Jake Kowalski’s best friend, and thus had access to key information like that. 

Calmed, if only for the moment, Alpha smiled. “Well, you got what you wanted, then. Congratulations, Adam.” she turned a sharp eye on Shep and Chevy. “Now, when am I getting grandchildren?”

Chevy blushed as Shep made to pick her up. “Right now!”

As the kitchen erupted into raucous laughter, Adam quietly slipped out the back door, re-reading the letter clutched in his hands. Finally, after a long and painful year, he would see her again. He thought briefly of the dream he’d had before his rude awakening and a smirk touched his mouth. His partner-in-crime, his best friend, Lian Kowalski.  _ Soon… _

\----------------------------------

Walking through the gates of Ilvermorny felt strange if only because it was still August. The students wouldn’t be due for another month, but Adam wasn’t returning to the castle for his education. He hadn’t travelled alone, River was eager to view his old stomping grounds, and Shep wanted to show Chevy around. (She’d attended Hogwarts herself.) They were met in the entrance by Professor Wolfe, one of the younger professors currently on staff, he and Professor Potter, that was. He was the grandson of the last Wandlore professor, having taught the class for nearly four years now. 

Also like his grandfather, Professor Wolfe was the keeper of Wands. And he was the entire reason the four Quinces had made the trip at all. 

“The Misters Quince, I presume?” He began with a wry smile. “And who is this charming beauty you’ve captured?” He offered a hand to Chevy, who shook it firmly.

“Talako, allow me to introduce my wife, Siobhan.” Shepherd said proudly, draping an arm around her shoulders. 

“You actually got married?” Professor Wolfe laughed loudly. “You’ve changed since our school days, then.”

“As have you,  _ professor _ ,” Shep replied pleasantly. To Chevy he said, “Out of our entire year we were the only boys sorted into Thunderbird.”

“That’s the house of the soul, or something, right?” she glanced at the wooden statues surrounding the golden knot on the floor. “What’s all this for?”

“It’s where every student who enters Ilvermorny gets chosen by a house,” River explained, pointing at the statues in turn. “The Thunderbird beats its wings, the Wampus cat roars, the Pukwudgie raises its arrow and the Horned Serpents horn just glows.”

“What if more than one statue moves?”

Adam remembered his own sorting, six years ago almost. He hadn’t met her yet, but Lian had been offered places in Wampus and Thunderbird, choosing the latter of course. He often wondered if they’d have grown closer faster had she chosen Wampus. Adventure was in her blood, sure, but she had always been every inch a warrior, strong and fearless. 

“Well, I’ll let you three alone. Adam, will you come with me, please?” Talako Wolfe gestured for him to follow, leading into a large room off the main one. Adam remembered this place too, he’d only seen it twice a year since attending school. The North American school was very strict about their laws and regulations. Since young wizards could be something of a risk, all students had to surrender their wands at the conclusion of each year, only to receive them again after the summer had passed. “Remind me what yours was, again?”

“Rowan,” Adam said promptly. “Rougarou hair core, fourteen and a half inches.”

“Contrary,” Talako murmured as he perused the shelves with its thousands of boxes. Shikoba Wolfe had said the same thing about Adam’s wand when he was eleven years old. Only after a few years in the Wandlore class did he understand why: Rowan was a wand wood that was most happily placed with those that were clear-headed and pure-hearted, and it’s a common saying that no dark witch or wizard ever owned a rowan wand. Adam’s wand was contrary to its nature because the wood and core were complete opposites: rougarou hair was always believed to have an affinity to Dark magic, like vampires to blood. Professor Wolfe reached for the long box and examined it briefly before removing the lid and offering it to Adam. 

He took it in his right hand, swishing it experimentally. Since his last growth spurt, the wand finally felt at home in his grasp; for the first few years it had rather felt like he was dueling with a small staff. It was an original Beauvais, despite the doubts surrounding that fact. Many of the wandmaker’s products were made from swampwood, but everyone had a phase. During his first and second year, Adam had developed the habit of tracing the patterns carved into its length while listening in class or just thinking in general. There was not an inch of his wand he hadn’t memorized, and to have it in his hands again made him feel complete.

_ Well, almost. _

He’d have received it for keeps, had he stayed at Ilvermorny, within a months time, along with everyone else in his year. He’d only told a few that he was transferring instead, but no one that was also friends with Lian. He rather liked the idea of surprising, or throwing her off guard. That had always yielded the best responses in the past, he remembered with a fond smile. 

“So, you’re really leaving us, then?” Talako asked briskly, putting his hands in his robe pockets. 

“That’s the plan.” Adam replied softly. “It’s nothing personal. I love this school, I just…”

“Oh I understand well your plight, not that I’ve suffered the affliction myself,” Adam tried not to be offended by his choice of words: Talako couldn’t hurt a fly. Mosquito, maybe, but he was only human. “The days I roamed these hallways as a student with your brother I learned things about your family that made me very grateful to be a Wolfe.”

“You were never scared of him?” Adam asked curiously. Morrigan knows there were still people he knew who would pointedly leave the room whenever he, or one of his younger brothers entered. His friend Matt only started talking to him again this past year. 

“Only when he was furious,” Talako admitted, glancing towards the door leading to the hall. “And it was several years before I saw that side of him… How long before he found Siobhan?”

“They’ve only been married three years,” Adam said, appreciating how his professor grimaced. “Their actual courtship was rather short, if you can imagine.”

“Oh I know Shep. I’m surprised he bothered to have a courtship at all once he found her.” Talako sighed, shaking his head ruefully. “I suppose we’d better hunt them down, then?”

“Won’t be much of an issue,” he replied with a shrug, turning to open the door and he was half-way into the sorting hall when it happened.

An eerie voice behind him said in a flat, echoing tone:

_ “The one to return balance to the wizarding world rises…” _

Adam cricked his neck turning around fast enough, finding Talako Wolfe standing stiffly where he’d been so casually standing. His hands withdrawn from his pockets, they were raised in weird gestures, but that wasn’t the most startling thing. The focal point of the entire situation were his eyes. Normally dark like coffee, Talako’s eyes were greyish white like a thick fog or fragments of a cloud. 

“Professor..?”

Talako’s mouth opened and that haunting voice sounded once again, as if a hundred Talakos stood in the Wand room, chanting together:

_ “The one to return balance to the wizarding world rises... _

_ groomed in darkness, shrouded in death...  _

_ and Saturn’s chosen will reveal the path, but his choice will cross unspeakable agony… _

_ should either fall the wizarding world shall dissolve into chaos, for the mighty titan must be freed… _

_ the heirs to save, a line to preserve… _

_ groomed in darkness, shrouded in death… _

_ The one to return balance to the wizarding world rises…” _

Professor Wolfe’s mouth and eyes closed, his body relaxed as though he’d been released from some magical hold. When again his eyes opened, they were dark once more, looking curiously back at Adam. “Well?”

Adam chewed his tongue. “What?”

“You just said finding them won’t be an issue, were you kidding?” Talako moved to join him at the door, following him back into the hall and closed the door behind them. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” Adam knew he was acting strange through his professor’s eyes. But after what he’d just witnessed, he had a right to be wary. 

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” Adam nodded, glancing at the statues as they walked around them, but not really seeing the way the Wampus cat followed his every move. 

He wasn’t a fool, even History of Magic classes covered how several wars had been influenced by prophecies. Curious on the subject, he’d done a few readings on the concept. However, he didn’t know that the Inner Eye ran in the Wolfe bloodline, and even after what he had just witnessed, he wasn’t sure he’d call that a vision. The way Talako’s eyes had glowed and the hundreds of voices sounding from his mouth...to Adam, that sounded more like possession. 

Still, he’d been the one to receive it. In all his research, they never described what you were supposed to do when you were given a prophecy.  _ I mean, other then tell the right people, I imagine… _

\-----------------------

  
  


The newly minted Minister looked like he’d rather swallow a thousand grindylows than swing his gavel, but he did so and called, “Cleared of all charges!”

The man standing before the full Wizengamot smiled broadly. “Thank you, Mr. Scrimgeour.” Then, privately he thought,  _ It only took 15 years to receive a proper trial, and 80% of that was spent in prison… Really I should be showing the new Minister where to shove his gavel. _ Sirius Orion Black turned to his supporters near the exit. Harry was already hopping the divider and running towards him. They embraced as Sirius exchanged a relieved look with Remus and even his cousin, Tonks, who had given herself black hair and silvery eyes in his support. He’d secretly hoped Minerva would find it in her heart to turn up but wasn’t surprised when she’d only sent Hagrid in her stead. 

“‘Bout ruddy time!” The half-giant crowed, slapping Sirius on the back and almost knocking both he and Harry to the floor. “Oh, sorry!”

“That’s alright,” Sirius wheezed, releasing Harry only to pull him into a side hug. “I’m sorry it took so long, but if you’d like-”

“I’m already packed!” Harry cried, green eyes bright with joy. “Anything to finally get away from the Dursleys!”

“Of course, the house still needs work,” Remus reminded them. “Walburga might finally be stuffed into Kreacher’s corner of the house but there remains thousands of dark magic just lying in wait-”

“Moony, I’m a free, innocent man! Time to celebrate!”

They had quite a few rounds at the Leaky Cauldron, talking about anything, everything. Quidditch mostly, where Harry was concerned, and eventually memories of his parents;  Sirius  thought he saw something impossible. He moved from their table where Hagrid was snoring while Tonks and Harry listened to Remus talk about the time James tried to scale the girl’s dormitory as a stag. The cloaked wizard had vanished up the stairs, where Sirius followed, withdrawing his wand if it came to that. 

Once upon the landing, he took aim at the retreating figure. “Stop where you are. Turn around.”

The wizard paused, but did not turn. “Contradicting statements, Mr. Black.”

“Turn around.” Sirius repeated firmly, trying to keep his wand arm steady.  _ That voice. _

“And if I don’t?”

“Sirius?” Harry called from the pub, but he didn’t take his eyes off the back of the wizard.

“You might wanna go back to your friends and family, Mr. Black.”

“I know it’s you,” Sirius growled. “Why now, after all this time??”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But do you really want to spend your first day as a free man chasing ghosts?’

“You’re no ghost.”

The wizard had the audacity to chuckle. “Aren’t I?” He turned slowly, and Sirius saw his silver eyes gleaming beneath the hood, that smug smirk fixed in place. “Then again, I could be a figment of your imagination.”

“ _ Incarcerous! _ ” Thin cords appeared from thin air to bind the wizard, but he’d anticipated this. He’d always been a step ahead.

His wand slashed through the air and the cords fell to the ground, severed to useless pieces. Sirius raised his wand to defend himself, expecting the worst of dark curses. But the wizard only laughed again. “I was weak in coming here... But the time for answers is reserved for a later day. Enjoy your freedom, Sirius.” And before Sirius had even finished firing everything from disarming to anti-disapparating spells there was a soft pop, and the wizard vanished. 

He cursed under his breath, but out of respect to Tom, the owner and also a desire to not sully his new status with a charge of property destruction, he put away his wand and returned to the bar. He ordered a firewhiskey and drank it without pause or any sense of feeling. Maybe Azkaban had given him a few loose screws, but he knew that he hadn’t been hallucinating just then. In his mind, the wizard would have mocked him fiercely and fired dark hexes one after another. In this encounter, he’d been gentle, and somewhat encouraging.  _ But how is he even alive? _

“Sirius?” Remus joined him at the bar. “What’s wrong?”

He turned to his friend, swallowing. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I didn’t believe you when you said you’d become an Animagus at 15; you have a knack for denying my doubts.” Remus tilted his head at him. “Try me.”

Sirius took a deep breath. “...Roman’s alive.”

  
  



	3. Three Memories

Draco needed a nap. He wasn’t accustomed to the time difference yet and waiting until ten to have Lian’s undivided attention was killing him. So he woke up that afternoon with a brilliant plan to find her at ‘work’. Except we didn’t know where that was and couldn’t use magic without getting into trouble with two ministries. So Mrs. Malfoy did the honors, and actually went along with us to some Muggle part of town, into an older building up several flights of stairs and into a large room with mirrors and filled with people wearing dark colors.

I think the sight of so many Muggles gathered in one room spooked Draco and his mother into not charging on inside. We lingered on the threshold, watching them attempt to perform some strange, slow dance.

I couldn’t see Lian for a long while, but I realized I was focusing on right arms, trying to pick out the steel from skin. Likely noticing my struggle, Mrs. Malfoy tapped my shoulder and nodded to the front of the group. “Over there, I believe.”

There was a man who was calling numbers as he moved, half of the group simply watched while the rest tried to mirror the motions he and his partner were showing. Wait a second. I squinted at the woman following the directors lead. Dirty blonde hair, freckles, serious expression...but why did she have both arms? Was it a spell? To prevent the Muggles from fearing her?

“Alright, this is a disaster waiting to happen,” the director called. “Let me show you real time-! Tammy, music!”

I don’t know who Tammy was, but seconds later the room was filled with violin music and suddenly the Muggle was steering her around the room. That’s how I wanted to see it at first, but soon all I could see was her. She was graceful, her movements quick and to the rhythm, her footwork flawless. Still, the dance was too intimate for my liking. I figured it was some kind of tango, hating every time I spotted those Muggle hands somewhere they didn’t belong.

I’d almost forgotten the Malfoy’s were there until Mrs. Malfoy chuckled. “If you could see your faces…”

“The hell does she think she’s doing?” Draco growled.

“It’s called dancing, my dear, you had lessons when you were little if you recall.” Mrs. Malfoy suddenly sounded eager. “Maybe you should take lessons again.”

“Mother, no.”

I watched the Muggle lift her up before setting her back down, a flare of envy spiking within me. I knew she liked music but in all our time and conversations with one another she never mentioned she was an excellent dancer. Watching her now, I believed she’d danced her entire life. Maybe she had. It was beginning to dawn on me how little I knew about her past. I didn’t know what was scarier, that she had a real, full life before Hogwarts, or that she might fall back into those familiar grounds once we’d graduated school.

Well, there is a war on the horizon, a somewhat irksome voice in my head reminded me. We all might not make it to graduation.

“Give a hand for my partner, if you please,” the man called to the class as he and Lian stepped apart and bowed. The Muggles cheered and whistled in appreciation, before their instructor began to move among them, pairing them up according to height and counseling as needed. I no longer cared what he was doing, so long as he kept his hands away from--uh oh.

Lian spotted us as she stepped to the side, taking a long swig of water. Her eyebrows came together as she recognized me, Draco, and probably guessed at the identity of the woman between us. She stalked towards us, her heels clicking on the floor causing me to wonder how she could move so well whilst wearing those death traps. But then I caught myself staring at her legs right before she stopped in front of us. My eyes snapped up to her face, but too late.

She gave me a very patronizing stare, then turned to look at Mrs. Malfoy. “Hello, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Draco coughed. “Kowalski, allow me to present my mother, Narcissa Malfoy. Mother, this is-”

“Lian Kowalski,” she cut him off, smiling at Narcissa. “I’m honored to make your acquaintance, but I pray you’ll forgive me for my future actions.” Introductions out of the way, she turned her attention back to Draco and myself, her pleasant smile fading to confusion. “What are you two niffler-heads doing here? This is where I work.”

“That’s precisely why we came!” Draco snapped.

“What are you talking about?” she asked incredulously.

“I’m paying your way, you don’t have to keep working a stupid job!” he seized her wrist and made to pull her out of the ballroom. At least until she stamped on his foot and squirted water in his face. He released her quite hastily. “Hey!”

“I like this job, and you can’t control me, Malfoy!

“I think what he meant to say is-ahh!” she whirled on me, accidentally on purpose spritzing water in my face as well. “Just that we’ve been at this for two hours a night for nearly a fortnight now and he’s hoping for more time to work with you and doesn’t understand why you’ve kept up the pretense of having a job if you no longer need the money…” her expression hadn’t softened at all so I added. “Speaking was a mistake, I see that now.”

She took a deep breath before replying, in a much calmer tone. “Let me get this straight; you want me to quit my jobs so I can spend more time training the two of you?”

“That is correct,” Draco grunted. I couldn’t be sure if it was the pain from having her heel stab his foot, or the water she’d splashed on him, but if it was the former, he might’ve been crying.

“Okay. I have conditions.”

“Which are?” I asked.

“I still get my Monday and Friday nights, lessons will be given wherever you guys are staying, and you have to come with me to my replacement activity.”

“Why at our place?” said Draco, frowning.

“Why do we have to go with you to what?” I added, also frowning.

She shrugged, taking another sip of water. “To be frank, my parents are convinced you’re sleeping under a bridge somewhere in Brooklyn and once I confirm that they want me to invite you to stay in our guest room's. And since you’re so intent on watching my every move,” she gave me that patronizing look again. “Then I formally invite and insist that you do just that.Non-negotiable. If you accept the terms, send me a letter.” She then adorned that pleasant, first-impression smile again as she focused on Mrs. Malfoy. “I hope you are enjoying your stay in Manhattan. It was a delight to meet you at last.”

Mrs. Malfoy was actually smiling back. “Indeed. I look forward to seeing you at a more convenient time.”

Lian dipped her head, in what I guessed was a polite gesture, before turning on her toes, and stalking away. She dropped her bottle back where she’d collected it, and then rejoined the man at the head of the class. I looked away as she accepted his hand, my head spinning.

Draco was reeling too, but for a very different reason. The three of us hadn’t walked ten steps away from the ballroom before he found his voice again. “SLEEPING UNDER A BRIDGE!?”

“Don’t raise your voice Draco,” his mother said curtly, though she was still smiling. “It’s tactless.”

“Would you be alright with Lian coming to the estate, Narcissa?” I asked, as the decision was ultimately hers.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” she glanced back the way we’d been. “I like her.”

\-----------------------------

The large buildings covered in layers of grime and soot from over the years, each built so closely to the next there was no alley or separation. The amount of dressy people with little dogs was alarming, not to mention the dog walker with ten different leashes struggling past.

Yup, this was the uptown stomping grounds. Lian normally didn’t wander these streets, but Mrs. Malfoy had sent her the address herself, using an eagle owl that was most definitely not native to the East Coast. Walking confidently as though she owned this town, (which came quite naturally to her, even in her ACDC t-shirt and torn shorts,) Lian approached the corner of Greene street and walked through the first door. The No-Majs around her would never notice the door opening, and inside the building they wouldn’t even know anyone had attempted to enter.

Lian opened the door into the wizarding version of Greene, though it was technically called Emerge. Someone thought too casually about that. The wizarding contractors built with stones that could clean themselves, so the entire street glowed brightly, a great contrast to the No-Maj apartments. There were a couple of shops as well, but Lian didn’t need to study the windows too closely to know that each item for sale cost more than her entire house.

If the No-Maj SoHo was uptown, she’d just wandered into the wizarding world’s Taj Mahal. The road was cobblestone still, but cleaned and without a trace of a homeless person or some street performer. How much would a permit to perform here cost, anyway?

Compared to the other wizarding pockets throughout New York, SoHo was kind of dead, as far as population and excitement went. Maybe that was the point. Wizards and witches that were this well off, probably preferred the quiet. Or maybe they were like the Malfoys, and only lived here whenever it was convenient to them.

Checking the note sent by Mrs. Malfoy, Lian walked briskly down the street, finding the ivory-stone house with a peacock-likeness carved into the doors. The birds studied her, as if judging if she was worthy of passing their portal, so Lian made sure to hit the knocker a little harder than necessary.

A heartbeat passed, then three…

The door opened inward, revealing an old house-elf, wearing some kind of pillowcase styled like a toga. “State your name and business, miss…” she said in a soft wheeze.

“Lian Kowalski, here to teach Misters Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott.”

“Thank you miss. Come to the sitting room. Kipsy will tell the Mistress you is here.”

Lian hadn’t taken three steps into the house when Draco came down the impossibly wide spiral staircase. She noticed he hadn’t strayed from his usual black, long sleeved button-down and slacks. What’s up with the long sleeves? In this freaking heat? She ignored him and continued on to the sitting room as directed by the house elf.

“Kowalski!” He followed after her, sounding impatient. “Who taught you manners?”

“You’ve been to my house, Malfoy, you know I was raised by a circus,” she began tersely.

“What’s got your wand in a knot?” he asked, though not sincerely. “If you try to break my arm again, I have decided I have no qualms with hitting back.”

That lie made her laugh, relaxing her a little bit. “Uh huh. Duly noted.”

It had only occurred to her after stepping into the household that she’d never met, befriended, or been to the home (or sublet) of someone as filthy rich as Draco Malfoy. Some people became a stuttering mess riddled with anxiety when in an uncomfortable position or nervous. Lian’s entire life she’d always made a point of building up her defenses, so no, she wasn’t scared or anxious of the obvious wealth she was suddenly surrounded by. She just felt a huge amount of disgust towards it. Maybe she was absorbing the attitudes of the people who lived in this kind of place. Good thing she was here to teach Occlumency…

Draco sat opposite her on a velvet throne, green of course. The entire upholstery was green, silver, black and white. It was all so elite she felt like vomiting her lunch all over it--at least that would add some variety to the decor.

“Why are you grinning?” Draco demanded.

“You don’t wanna know,” she replied smugly. “So… Do I get just you today or…”

“Not on your life,” Theo stated, emerging through a door she hadn’t noticed before. That may have been due to it blending into the wallpaper. “Has Draco tried to give you the tour yet?”

Lian raised her eyebrows up to her hairline. “He has not, should I feel relieved or offended?”

“Relieved.”

“Hey!” Draco snapped. “I was about to offer but she had this strange look on her face.”

“What look?” Theo asked.

Lian grinned and Draco pointed aggressively at her. “That one!”

Theo hissed through his teeth. “Ooh, I see the concern.”

She rolled her eyes, before standing up and clapping her hands in a businesslike manner. “Right, who’s ready to clear their mind?” Glancing around the sitting room she added, “I assume you have a better place in mind for this evening?”

“What’s wrong with the sitting room?” Draco whined. “All we’re going to do is sit, anyway.”

“Actually no,” Lian crossed her arms. “Since you’re under the protection of your mum’s house I’m guessing you can use magic and get away with it. Today we’re testing how much you’ve been paying attention and applying what I’ve been teaching you.”

“Meaning?”

“You’re going to clear your mind, and I’m going to invade it.” Theo and Draco gave her identical looks of fear mixed with anger. “What?”

“You’re going to what?!” Draco spluttered.

“Are you sure we’re ready for that?” Theo asked, trying to keep his voice steady but clearly under the impression that she was insane. “Draco just barely stopped falling asleep during our sessions.”

“Exactly,” Lian nodded. “He’s getting better. Do you guys have like an open room where you can fall without breaking anything?”

“Bones or furniture?”

“Yes.”

“Oh for the love of Merlin,” Draco jumped to his feet. “This is not what we agreed on!”

Lian pointed one metal finger at him. “Check yourself, Malfoy, but this is precisely what we agreed on. What kind of teacher would I be if I let you run off and try to defend your minds for the first time against the Dark Lord, hmm? Or would you prefer that scenario?” Neither replied, clearly lacking a better argument. “I will take your silence as an agreement. So. About that open space…”

“I believe there’s a spare room on the fourth floor,” Lian jumped as Mrs. Malfoy called from the second landing, looking over them all. “I haven’t figured out what to do with it just yet so it’s completely empty. I’ll have Kipsy bring up some cushions for them to fall on.”

“Mother!”

“Hush Draco, the adults are talking. Come along, Lian.”

After mouthing Your mom is so chill! at Draco, she skipped upstairs. Not ten minutes later she had both boys standing in the empty room with its ridiculously soft carpet and plump body-sized cushions. The room had one adornment to its pale green walls, and that was a silver-framed mirror. Lian glanced at it a few times, sensing something weird but couldn’t put her finger on it. Shaking herself, she faced Theo and Draco who were taking it in turns to glance at the door, thinking of the best way to run.

“You first, Nott,” she said, gesturing for Draco to have a seat upon the cushions.

“Why me?”

“Malfoy can go first if you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared I just…” he trailed off and cleared his throat. “Okay me first.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes in concentration. Which is exactly what she’d told him to not do.

“Clear your mind. You’re thinking too hard.”

“I’m trying, just give me a minute.”

Rolling her eyes, Lian pulled back a part of her own mental walls, allowing her ability to surge through the room. She felt Draco’s anxiety tenfold, and Theo was beyond nervous. Seriously, he was close to a breakdown. “You need to relax.”

“I am relaxed.” he said tightly.

“Really? You think you can keep me out of your mind?” he didn’t answer her, stubbornly keeping his eyes shut and falling further into ineptitude. She glanced at Draco, up at the ceiling, then focused back on Theo. “O-kay…three...two...one…”

If her powers could be likened to a pair of hands, previously they’d have been touching the walls and testing to see if the chandelier was made out of crystals or diamonds, able to see the room in full and sense strong emotions as any observant person could. When she focused on Theo’s tension it was not unlike the hands coming together in a loud CLAP.

He put up little to no resistance at all, and within seconds she saw a small boy with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. He was holding the hand of a lady with the same color hair but with hazel eyes instead. As the two people came into focus before her, Lian began to notice scenery and other, less important figures running around. Of course, she knew instantly that the woman was Theo’s mother. She saw kids around his age in this memory that looked like Draco, Daphne and Goyle. Hiding behind the legs of a beautiful woman she spotted a boy who had to be Blaise.

The memory faded, giving way to a dark cloud that Lian decidedly passed over. Instead she directed her attention to a more recent memory. Theo was standing in Snape’s office, over the Pensieve he’d been using to teach Harry and herself. The weird thing was Lian saw that she was present also, but she didn’t seem to be conscious. The memory version of herself was sound asleep in the Professor’s chair, while the vampire himself appeared.

“Mr. Nott, would you care to explain what on earth you and Ms. Kowalski are doing in my office?”

Stifling a yawn, Theo replied, “I was in the common room doing homework, when she came out of the girl’s dorm, sleepwalking.” Snape looked skeptical, though he also looked half-awake. “No, really, sir. She came here and removed a memory, and then fell asleep in the chair.”

“And you deemed it appropriate to not only follow her but to look into the Pensieve as well?”

“I suppose so, sir.”

Professor Snape nodded, or maybe his head drooped forward before springing back upright. “Please return to your dormitory at once, Mr. Nott.” Theo nodded quickly, then stepped towards the door. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”

Theo hesitated, before he returned to the desk and gathered Lian in his arms, carrying her from the office slowly, so as not to disturb her.

Lian withdrew from his mind, a strange feeling taking over her stomach. He’d never mentioned that event, though that might lead to an explanation as to why one of her Slytherin robes was suddenly longer than the rest, and why it smelled faintly of…

Theo was flat on his back, well kind of, he’d been saved by a cushion, but he was breathing heavily. She approached him gingerly, kneeling down to get a good look at his face. Only when he could look her in the eye did she say, “You have to relax.”

“W-what did you see?” he breathed.

Shrugging, she stood up and walked back to her original spot. “This and that...by the way, how often do I sleepwalk?”

“I don’t know, I only saw it the one time,” his answer was distracted, but she sensed the honesty. “...did you see anything else?”

She didn’t have to tell him. But he was trusting her without pause, as usual, so she said, “Yeah. I saw a smaller version of you and some of the other Slytherin kids with your mothers. I distinctly remember a hedge maze in the background…”

He slowly sat up, grimacing. Draco was already shaking his head as Lian turned on him. “No way. No!”

“Nott needs a minute to recover. Stand up and face me like a man!”

“You have no right!”

“So you keep saying and yet, here we are!”

“Draco just let her,” Theo wheezed. “She’s only doing what we asked…”

“I didn’t realize all the facts of the matter. We should return to London and have Snape teach us!”

Lian grimaced and scratched her head. “I mean if you want to, I won’t stop you.”

Draco looked skeptical. “Really?”

“Mhm.” She tilted her head to the left until it popped, then did the same on the right. “Only, as a former student of his, I feel it’s my duty to warn you that Professor Snape won’t hesitate and give you time to meditate as I have. Learning from him means invasion into your privacy nonstop—it’s a sink or swim kind of situation, and the only reason you two are afloat is because of the life raft I’ve put you on.” She stretched her back, squinting at the two of them. “So. What’s it gonna be?”

Draco was scowling at her, but Theo looked slightly impressed. She took that as a good sign, while Draco moved to stand opposite her, the mirror just behind him. He didn’t close his eyes but he also didn’t tense up, only continued to scowl at her. “Ready.”

“I hope I taught you that scary faces won’t help against a competent Legilimens,” Lian said teasingly. “Did I not?” She glanced at Theo who shook his head. “Well then all is lost. Protect your mind on three: one...two…”

She focused on his mind, finding some resistance at first, but a minute or two later his mind was wide open. The first memory she saw was in a robe shop. A young Draco, possibly ten or eleven, was alone with the seamstresses as they took his measurements and began their work. The shop’s bell tinkled as another young boy walked in, barely stringing two words together as the Madam descended upon him, ushering him to the back as well. She placed the new kid upon his own stool beside Draco, slipping a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length. 

“Hullo,”  young Draco began, his grey eyes curious but his tone bored.  “Hogwarts too?”

“Yes,” replied young Harry, as Lian recognized the wild black hair and glasses.

“My father’s next door buying my books and mother’s up the street looking at wands,”  drawled Draco, stating the facts.  “Then I’m going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don’t see why first-years can’t have their own. I think I’ll bully father into getting me one and I’ll smuggle it in somehow. Have you got your own broom?”

“No.”

“Play Quidditch at all?” young Draco pressed, trying to find something in common with the new boy. He didn’t seem to have any interest in engaging in conversation with him, which had never happened to him before. 

“No.”

“ I do. Father says it’s a crime if I’m not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you’ll be in yet?”

“No.”

“Well,” said young Draco fairly,  “no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I’ll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I’d leave, wouldn’t you?”

“Mmm.”

Nothing. Draco cast his eyes about the shop, searching for a new topic, something to get this boy to talk back when he spotted an enormous man standing just outside of the shop’s window.  “I say, look at that man!”

Young Harry looked both relieved and  pleased to know something [Draco] didn’t. “That’s Hagrid. He works at Hogwarts.”

“Oh,” said Draco. “I’ve heard of him. He’s sort of a servant, isn’t he?” According to his sources, Hagrid kept up the school grounds and kept the wild beasts in check. Seemed a befitting job for someone who appeared half-beast themselves. And finally they had something to talk about…

“He’s the gamekeeper.” Harry’s tone indicated he was growing impatient of Draco, who didn’t take notice.

“Yes, exactly. I heard he’s sort of savage - lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed.” That last part might have been a stretch, he’d heard it from Blaise and Pansy the other week. But maybe the boy with glasses would laugh at the idea, as he had.

“I think he’s brilliant,” said Harry coldly.

“Do you?” said Draco, with a slight sneer.  So much for things in common.  “Why is he with you? Where are your parents?”

“They’re dead,” said Harry shortly.

“Oh, sorry,” said Draco, not sounding sorry at all. So he’d been trying to chat with a nameless orphan this entire time. The only thing that could make things worse would be…  “But they were our kind, weren’t they?”

“They were a witch and wizard, if that’s what you mean.”

“I really don’t think they should let the other sort in, do you?” Draco tried for one last connection, confirming that the strange boy was a wizard the proper way. His parents were the smartest people he knew, quoting them seemed like a good idea. “They’re not the same, they’ve never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What’s your surname, anyway?”

The memory switched to Draco, few years older, getting scolded by his father. Apparently the fact that his son was always second best to a certain ‘Mudblood’ was a great shame to Mr. Malfoy. Even as an observer, Lian recoiled at the language the father saw fit to use. The memory Draco took it with his head bowed and his lips set, but his hands were curled so tightly into fists that his knuckles were white.

She withdrew, deciding it was a good time to pull back, but a final memory jumped at her, as if determined she should see it. She saw a man, or a facsimile of one, tall and intimidating, with pale, sickly skin; sharp, red, almost reptilian eyes, and absolutely no nose. 

He was seated in a hard, high backed chair, with a room full of dark, hooded figures standing around the walls. Draco and Theo stood in the center of it all, facing the man with no nose. 

“...but they shall not follow the mistakes of their fathers before them, no.” The man was saying, or hissing. “While Elias Nott showed great loyalty in dying in the name of our rights to reign, a dead death eater has never been useful to me. I’m confident his son Theodore will rise where his father fell. Still, it was a far better fate than for those that followed behind Lucius.” Those red eyes narrowed as they turned on Draco. “Allowing himself and the elite among my ranks to be captured by that bumbling Ministry and their pathetic excuses for aurors. It is of little consequence, the dementors have already begun to turn upon the Ministry. It won’t be long before they are free...but in the meantime…”

He leered at the boys, who seemed frozen to the spot. “Raise your arm.”

Draco and Theo raised their left arms in unison, and a hooded figure stepped forward to hand each of them a black dagger with a snakes head for a hilt. These they accepted with their right hands, holding the blade against their sides. Draco was trembling ever so slightly. 

“Do you swear to follow my commands? To fight, to bleed, to kill upon my order?”

“I swear,” Draco said, if a bit softly. 

“I swear,” Theo repeated a heartbeat later. 

“Prove it,” the Dark Lord whispered, a sick delight shining in his eyes as both boys raised the black daggers high, before stabbing them deep into their left arms. 

Lian vaulted herself from Draco’s head with a gasp, registering that her target had fallen to his knees at some point.

“What happened?” Theo was at her side, grabbing her shoulders as her knees gave out but she felt numb. No, she amended as her stomach churned dangerously. She felt sick, but she couldn’t wimp out now. Regaining the mobility in her legs she stepped away from Theo, rubbing at her forehead. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked, hands still up in case she collapsed again.

“I’ve had worse,” she said truthfully, taking a deep, steadying breath. “You should be more concerned about Malfoy.”

“I’m fine,” Draco growled, standing up straight and brushing off his clothes, still quite shaken.

“Like hell you are,” Lian grabbed his left arm and pushed the sleeve up to see the scar.

“No-stop!” Draco shoved her away, cradling his half-exposed forearm.

Lian stared blankly at him, a frown crawling across her mouth. “What was that?”

“It’s nothing!”

She turned on Theo, who was still standing close and grabbed his left wrist in her right hand, her free hand reaching for his sleeve. “You have one, too?”

“Kowalski, don’t!” Theo protested, trying to break her steel grip in vain. “Please!”

Lian hesitated, his sleeve also half raised. She could see the beginnings of the scar on his arm, but it was not a normal scar by any definition. “What is it?”

“It’s none of your-” Draco managed to say before she erupted.

“It damn well is my business! You two made it my business when you came to me! If you want me to keep helping you so no one, not even that evil man can penetrate your minds then stop shutting me out!” When had tears decided to fall down her face? She wiped at her eyes impatiently.

Draco was staring at her, convinced she was insane again. “Why in the name of Salazar are you crying?”

Lian took a shuddering breath. “I’m not crying.”

“Sure looks like crying to me,” he scoffed, fixing his sleeve.

“Draco,” Theo said, suddenly cold. “It’s because she cares.” He moved to stand between herself and his oldest friend. “Don’t act surprised, Daphne does it all the time.”

“She’s not Daphne, is she? She’s Kowalski, a half-blood, directly related to a Muggle which essentially makes her-”

In a split second, Lian realized why he was kicking back against everything they’d done so far. He’d shown it to her in those three memories she’d witnessed. She represented everything he’d been conditioned against. His father had raised him to believe that No-Majs were ugly, filthy creatures who would one day destroy all magic. It was exactly what she’d said in her letter, the piece that caused all of this mess.

“You read her words just as I did. Her most basic instinct is to protect those she chooses,” Theo was arguing on her behalf, without most information but at least he was trying. “She’s trying to choose you but you keep spitting in her face!”

I think when you’re frightened, your instinct is to kick-back with all you’ve got… Lian remembered writing the phrase. But I worry that you haven’t been given all the facts.

“Of course,” she muttered, walking towards the door. Draco and Theo broke off their argument to follow her.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back.”

“That’s not an answer!”

She sprinted from room to room, searching for the right-Aha! Charging into what looked like a study, she grabbed a handful of powder from off the mantle and cast it into the fireplace, shouting her address into the blaze before jumping into it.

Stepping out into her living room, where Jake and Matt were having a chess game, she offered a quick hello before running upstairs. Inside her room she pointed her wand at the high shelf and with a quick spell had all of her big, leatherbound books floating down to her. “Which one was it…” she mumbled, shifting through the volumes, sending each one back that wasn’t what she was looking for…

She was vaguely aware of a commotion going on downstairs, the most likely scenario being that she’d been followed home by two spoiled brats. They were probably being confronted by Jake, (who had told her repeatedly he didn’t like the Brits,) and also Matt, her best friend of eleven years.

Got it! Seizing two books from the air and sending the rest back, she marched back downstairs--or she would if her way had not been blocked by the four boys shouting at each other as they all invited themselves in her room. Jake and Draco were seconds from gouging one another’s eyes out, so she raised her right hand and snapped her steel fingers. The effect was a tiny shockwave as literal sparks zapped from her metal arm. The boys stopped abruptly, not at the noise so much as the static washing over them.

“Jules, why are they back here?” Jake asked, being the first to recover.

“She’s the one who-”

“Qui-et!” she called, feeling a little tired of all the contention at this point. “Matt and Jake please don’t talk.” She walked up to Draco, biting her lip. “I get it. You don’t have to agree or disagree with me from now on. However, if you want, you can borrow these.” She offered him the thick books in her arms. “I should’ve given them to you weeks ago, I just forgot until now…”

His grey eyes widened as he took them from her. “Are these…”

She nodded crisply. “By Merlin himself.”

“How did you-?”

Shrugging, Lian said, “I know people.” Then she turned on Theo. “I think it best if we continue everything at a later time. When everyone is ready to proceed.” She hated being so vague in her speech, but she had to do it out of respect for their privacy. Matt and Jake had shut up but they were still watching the exchange like hawks.

He nodded, before he and Draco headed back down the stairs. When they were out of sight, Lian turned to her brother and old friend. “Please don’t make a big deal. They’re just trying to find their way.”

“They’re big boys,” Matt grunted. “Can’t they find it on their own?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Jake exclaimed.

Squinting at the two of them, Lian said, “Don’t you have a chess game to lose?”

“Not anymore,” Matt shrugged. “Those inbreds knocked the table over-OW!” he recoiled as Lian smacked him upside the head. “Hey!”

“Those are my friends you’re talking about,” she placed her hands on her hips, frowning.

“You already have friends, you don’t need more,” he shot back, expression suddenly sour. Lian sighed. She loved Matt, she loved his entire family, but they’d always been a bit...possessive. She used to blame it on the fact that he had about thirteen siblings, elderly parents and he wasn’t even the youngest. (In that scenario, he was just a kid screaming for attention, and whenever she diverted hers, he threw a fit.) But after a few years at Ilvermorny, she unearthed the true reason: Matt hated new people.

“Okay sure, I already have friends. Those guys are allies. Happy?”

“No.”

Jake raised a hand. “I don’t like them, and I object to their being your allies.”

Rounding on her brother she said, “Overruled.”

“On what grounds?”

“I’m the big sister, I tell you what to do, not the other way around.”

\-------------------------

The next few days were spent in relative silence. Draco effectively locked himself in his room, reading I imagined. I was dying to know what Lian had seen in his mind, but he hadn’t spoken to me since the event. Mrs. Malfoy didn’t seem bothered by his behavior, insisting I give him space to cool off. (“His tantrums are all talk with very little action, you know. Even when he was a baby.”) I was inclined to doubt her, particularly after our third year when he got attacked by Hagrid’s hippogriff. None of us had been fooled by his act that year, not even Pansy, but she still had a crush on him then so she put up with his whining.

I was patient for the first day, and the second. The third day I left the fancy house with its endless room's, the quiet, but clean street, and told myself I would explore the Muggleside. If Lian could love a place as loud, dirty and crowded as Manhattan, I was willing to give it a trial run.

However, after about an hour of walking around and getting completely lost, I still had no idea why she liked it so much. It was kinda like London, but angrier. What made this place so special in her eyes?

A certain aroma washed over me, like freshly baked bread and some kind of sugar. My eyes raked the street for its source, and I found myself staring at a sign across the  way that read:  Kowalski Baked Quality Goods. I crossed the Mugglewalk and found my way to the bakery, stepping inside before I could really consider what I was doing. I got an eyeful of brea d s,  biscuits , pies and several pastries before I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Theodore! Welcome!” Mr. Kowalski was behind the glass display case I had been eying, wearing an apron  over  his clothes. The apron was completely covered in white powder and a few stains I had a few concerns over. “Where’s your sulky friend?”

I assumed he meant Draco. “Just me today. Got a bit lost in the city.”

“Julie says you’re staying somewhere in SoHo, that right?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled, leaning against the glass case. “If you know where you’re going, that’s only a 20 minute walk from here.” Rather than relish in my embarrassment, he added, “Want a pierniczki?” Reaching into the case he pulled out a large plate piled high with biscuits shaped like…

“Are those...nifflers?” I asked, hesitantly selecting one.

“Every month I have a different theme, and Fi picked nifflers, billywigs, centaurs, diricrawls and mooncalves.” Mr. Kowalski gestured at his more creatively shaped goods as he spoke, smiling. “Everything she calls cute, basically.”

I nodded, enjoying the taste of ginger on my tongue. But then, “Wait, centaurs?”

Mr. Kowalski wrinkled his nose. “I ain’t gonna lie to ya, I’m more than a little concerned about that one.” He put the biscuits back on display before running a hand through his hair. “She won’t stop talking about boys. I wish she’d be more like her sister.”

I saw an opportunity and took it. “What was Lian like at that age?”

Mr. Kowalski squinted as he recalled. “Oh, twelve wasn’t a good age for my Julie...for a while there it was like she’d lost all sense of self. She was quiet and docile, but then she got back to school and had some sense slapped into her by one of her long-distant friends...what was his name…”

“She has female friends, right?” I let that one slip out before I could stop it. But seriously, how many boys did she run around with before Hogwarts?

“Of course. When she got to school she made loads of friends, most of them have passed through our house like you and Drake. When she was younger though...it was her and...Matt against the world. Around ten years old they found Jason and were as thick as thieves.”

Something pulled at my memory when he hesitated in his speech pattern. Something about the family portrait they had in their house…

I was distracted by the notion so much that I missed the door opening as two people entered the shop.

“Speaking of thieves!” Mr. Kowalski exclaimed, causing me to turn my head.

Lian was wearing a white shirt and baggy shorts that reached her knee. This, coupled with her hair pulled in a ponytail, sweat stains and trainers, I was able to guess that she’d been exercising. Just behind her was her animagus friend, Jason. He was similarly dressed and stained, so they’d done whatever it had been together. Lian caught my eye as I examined their identical state, smirking.

She held up her hand to Jason, who was already digging around in his pockets. “Pay up.” I watched as he dropped 5 sickles into her palm.

“C’mon man,” Jason directed at me. “You couldn’t have waited just four more days?”

Not entirely understanding the exchange, but recognizing a bet when I saw one, I replied, “I didn’t come to see her, I was just wandering about.”

“Oh really?” Jason swiped at Lian, attempting to reclaim his money, but she dodged around me then jumped the counter to join her father. “Hey!”

“The bet was whether he’d turn up in a week or a few days. He turned up. I win.” Lian winked at me. “Good to see you, Nott. How badly is Malfoy pouting?”

“I actually haven’t seen him since you gave him those books.” I admitted, feeling slightly used. And wasn’t I worth more than 5 sickles in her eyes?

She raised her eyebrows a fraction but seemed to be more impressed than concerned. “Sounds about right. I couldn’t put the  damn  things down the first time I read through them.”

Jason sniggered. “I remember that,” he moved forward to examine the pastries beneath the glass. “She was walking the hallways blindly with her nose buried in those pages. Do you know how many times we had to grab the back of her robes to prevent her from falling down the stairs?”

Mr. Kowalski gave a hearty laugh. “I can imagine.”

“You were in the same house at…” I couldn’t remember the name of the American school so I let my sentence trail off.

“Ilvermorny?” Jason finished for me, glancing in my direction. I think his face was stuck in a permanently happy expression. It was weird. “Nah. I was in Horned Serpent: too many questions buzzing around in my head, I guess.”

I looked at Mr. Kowalski. “What house were you in?”

“Heh, I wasn’t offered a place in any of the houses.” Mr. Kowalski said with a shrug. “That was an awkward moment for everyone involved.”

I tilted my head to the side, glancing between he and Lian in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Lian had puckered her lips to the side, but otherwise her expression was inscrutable. I don’t know what she was thinking, but I got the impression she was waiting to see my reaction to what was about to happen. Her father shrugged again. “Well, I couldn’t very well attend Ilvermorny and carry a wand being a Squib and all.” He smiled ruefully. “My ma was so happy to send me’n my sister off to her alma mater, it didn’t really register that I hadn’t displayed any signs of magic and all…”

It took a second before it clicked into place in my brain. Lian wasn’t only directly related to a Muggle, her father was the equivalent of Mr. Filch (without the old grouchy cat-loving bits)… Born from a witch, but not enough magic to be granted a wand… Lian was waiting for me to show disgust, or something worse, I understood that now. Jason was eying me too, but I didn’t understand what his agenda could be. Knowing I had to be careful about my answer, I could only trust “Huh. I suppose you can’t blame her for hoping.”

Mr. Kowalski nodded. “That’s what I’ve always said. In anycase, Dad was happy to have someone to teach all the family secrets.” He spread his arms, gesturing at the shop in which we stood. “Long story short, I run the baking business now.”

I glanced at Lian again, to find she’d given me a small grin, but her eyes remained resolute. I think she was waiting for the other shoe to fall.

“So.” Jason broke the silence that followed. “What brings you to this neck of the woods?”

“I was trying to get a feel of the city,” I answered honestly.

“How’d you do?”

Mr. Kowalski beat me to the punchline. “He got lost.”

Lian squinted at me in disbelief. “Isn’t SoHo like twenty-”

“I know!” Their knowing grins were starting to anger me. How was I to know my way around this place?

Lian and Jason both had raised their hands in a placating gesture. I noticed then that Lian appeared to have fleshy arms again. Definitely for the Muggle world, then. “Okay, chill dude,” Jason said. “We’re only here for the mooncalf-pies.”

“That’ll be 5 bucks.” Mr. Kowalski stated, punching a few buttons on a strange machine near the display case.

“Nuh-uh,” Lian pouted. “Last week they were only $2.50!”

“It’s a buy two get one free special, honey,” he glanced in my direction before continuing. “What’s the plan for the afternoon, then? You two finished with boxing-”

“Kickboxing, Dad,” Lian corrected.

“Right. What’s next?”

Lian handed her father a slip of green paper before replying, “Well I smell like a troll’s armpit, so probably go home and shower before meeting up with the gang tonight.”

Jason grinned, accepting a pie shaped like the face of a mooncalf and taking a huge bite. He then spoke with his mouth full. “Mebbe Feeoh duly’k taclom.”

Lian gave me a once over, puckering her lips again. “Mm. I’d hate to interfere with his city wanderings. Would you want to come with us tonight, Nott?”

“Where are you going?” I asked, feeling it would be imbecilic to accept without that knowledge.

Jason swallowed his treat. “Karaoke night.”

“Carry-what?” his and Lian’s identical grins were unsettling, but I felt intrigued all the same.

“Oho,” Lian chuckled. “This is gonna be good.”


	4. The Long Game

It was a normal house, in a regular suburban neighborhood, in an ordinary town. Or so it seemed. True, though the house was standard on the outside—the inside contained about three times its expected capacity. He gave the mahogany door three solid knocks, listening to the rumbles of footfalls against the floor on the other side. His brothers stood around him, just River, Leo and Cas now: they were each excited to be there for their own reasons.

The door opened at long last, swing wide to reveal a face he knew, but hardly spoke to. “You guys made it!!”

River scooped her up in a hug. “Course we did! Sorry about the little brothers but what can I say, we travel in packs.”

The girl, named Beck, laughed as she led them inside. “Not a problem—we’ve got all ages tonight I’m surprised so many people could make it at all this year.”

“Yeah? Who?” Leo asked, before someone tackled him from the kitchen. “AW YEAH!”

Adam felt a rush of hope as he recognized Jake Kowalski, currently slapping his little brother on the back.

“Downstairs as usual,” the hostess stated. “I cast a sound-repelling charm on the upper floors this time so we can be as loud as we like.”

“Perfect!” Cas grinned and shoved his way to the front so he could run downstairs. Adam followed after him, seeing loads of his friends from school as he did. Anders tried to put him in a headlock and ruffle his hair. Perry cheered and punched the air as Adam stepped over his legs. Scott clapped his back, it being the only part of Adam he could reach. Even Matt nodded his head as he passed by.

But Adam had a goal, and she was way on the other side of the enormous basement. She was leaning against the marble bar, speaking to someone he did not recognize, but was unimportant in his eyes. It was only her that mattered. Weaving his way through classmates and friends alike, he finally reached her. The boy she was talking to, a skinny guy with dark brown hair and piercing eyes gazed up at him, likely indicating to her that she ought to turn around. This she did, and looked no further than his flanneled shirt before smiling.

“Quince,” said Lian to his ribs, before turning those large brown eyes on his face.

“Kowalski,” he replied coldly, holding his stern expression for about three seconds, before picking her up by the back of her legs and hoisting her aloft, loving the way she shrieked in surprise. Especially since catching her off-guard is nearly impossible. 

“Put me down!” She yelled from somewhere over his head.

“Nope. You’re spending the entire evening up there.” Without so much as a glance at whomever she’d been conversing with, he turned on his heel and made his way back through the crowd, practically balancing Lian on one shoulder.

“Adam!” Finding a seat by Jason, he settled down, placing Lian on his lap before wrapping his arms around her. She struggled for a minute before giving up, which rather described their relationship. “...this is payback or a punishment, isn’t it?”

“Oh good, you’re still quick on the uptake,” he replied haughtily, resting his chin atop her head. He couldn’t be sure if he was happier than he was furious with her in that moment, but holding her was extremely calming so that’s what he planned to do for as long as she would allow it.

“This wouldn’t have anything to do with me changing schools without saying anything, now would it?” Lian asked innocently. “Because if so...I guess I saw that coming.”

“ Damn right.” 

“So he’s just gonna sit back there all night?” Jason asked Lian, interrupting their quips. “Dude couldn’t look more awkward if he tried.”

“He just likes to observe while being unobserved.” Lian craned her neck to look back at the bar, but when Adam turned his head, he saw only people. He couldn’t even see the back wall, let alone the kitchenette and the place Lian had been with the stranger. “The back of any room is where he’s drawn to, this situation is no different.”

As the gathered teenagers began to settle either on the floor, or in bean bag chairs, or on one of the sofas, Adam could finally spot the skinny kid again. He was dressed in all black, with long sleeves and, true to Jason’s remark, couldn’t look more uncomfortable if he tried. “Who is that?”

“His name is Theodore Nott,” Lian replied, struggling in his arms once again but he just held on tighter. “Let me breathe-!”

“What’s he doing here; I’m assuming he doesn’t go to Ilvermorny.”

“He’s visiting New York,” Jason answered. “And we might have mentioned we were going to a karaoke party. It was Lian’s genius idea to invite him, he didn’t realize it was a class reunion.”

“It’s not a reunion, we’re not even out of school yet.”

“Some of us are,” Jason reminded her, pointing out the Ilvermorny Alumni, including Adam’s own brother, River.

“Well he looked bored out of his mind, I figured it couldn’t hurt to bring him along.”

“Sorry,” Adam coughed. “But visiting New York from where?”

“Wherever he lives in England, I guess,” Lian replied, attempting to shrug with little success.

“So you met at Hogwarts, then?”

“Yeah. We’re in the same house.” Lian tilted her head back to try and look at him. “It’s only been a year, Quince, you can’t have forgotten how chatty I can be.”

He nuzzled her forehead. “Mhm.” He wasn’t fooled, even with Jason and Lian’s seemingly innocent answers. They said ‘visiting New York’, he heard ‘visiting Lian’. British boy was on his radar now.

Speak of the devil… “May I join you?” Skinny kid had approached the couch they were currently occupying. Apparently he’d observed the room enough and was looking to observe a specific thing up close. Meeting his eyes, Adam found ice where iris should have been. Hm. This is gonna be fun.

“Sure,” he answered, as Jason scooted aside to make room for him.

Before any kind of introduction could be formally made, Beck was on the stage and had the dreaded microphone in her hands. “Okay guys! If you’re standing up still I hope it’s on purpose cuz we’re gonna get started here!” She paused while the room quieted and all eyes fell upon her. “Glad everyone seemed to make it here okay, some by foot, by vehicle, broom, magical beast, portkey and floo; and then there’s the alums just rubbing it in our faces with their fancy apparition!” Everyone laughed. Adam never saw Beck in her element more than when she was the center of attention. Some people flourished in the spotlight. He wasn’t one of them, but that didn’t really matter. “I’d like to officially welcome everyone to Karaoke Night! A quick refresher of the rules as I see some new faces tonight, younger siblings, friends and straight up strangers. When each of you entered the door your name was submitted to a fancy top hat. Anyone can take a name from that hat, it’s been spelled specifically against letting you get your own name, because--from the returning crowd--what. Is. The. Number. One. Rule. Of. Karaoke?”

Adam, Lian and Jason shouted the answer along with a few others. This was the third year they’d all come together right before school began, and the numbers had grown significantly. “YOU CAN’T PICK YOUR OWN SONG!”

Beck gave them all a dazzling smile. “That’s right! You cannot pick a song for yourself to perform, the song is chosen for you by whomever draws your name out of the fancy hat! Fact, where is the hat?” She squinted around the room. “Anders! Hold it up, please!”

Everyone turned to look at Adam’s friend and housemate, Anders, a hulking farm boy from Minnesota. He held the top hat over his head, while Adam recognized Vera Schmid sitting beside him, along with a few other Wampus’s. It was easy to tell them apart because of the other houses, they actively trained with their bodies to be physically in tune.

“At any time during the night you may approach the hat and select a name. Once you have selected a name you go to the screen back there--for those of you who are unaccustomed with No-Maj technology you might need to bring a savvy friend with you--you add the name you’ve selected and get the joy of choosing a song for them!”

Beside Adam, the Brit tensed and turned to frown at Lian, mouthing, “Why am I here?!” She attempted to shrug again, but from what Adam could see, didn’t reply. So, she was throwing him under the bus, and he sensed not for the first time.

“When their name comes up and they’re called on stage, they have the option to pass. BUT!”

The returning group called out the answer again. “You can only pass once! Next time your name comes up you have to do it!”

“These are the rules of Kolorado Karaoke!” Beck said into the microphone, punching the air with her fists as the room erupted into cheers and whistles. She lowered them as everyone calmed down, “Any questions?”

A girl in the front by Adam’s littlest brother, Cas, raised her hand. “What if we don’t know the song?”

“Milk it!”

“Fake it til ya make it!”

“Don’t do it alone!”

Several answers along those lines sounded all around the wide basement. Beck waved her hands until everyone settled down again. “No spectators, everyone is doing this! I wanted to start the evening with one of my very good friends, but I think I’ll get my revenge on her some other way. I’m looking at you, Lian!” In his arms, Lian tilted her head and smiled widely. “So! First up we have Tracie George from Vancouver, singing Stevie Wonder’s I Just Called to Say I Love You!”

A girl from the back marched up to claim the mic from Beck as the music already began to play.

“I never gave my name,” the Brit began right away, pulling the focus from Tracie’s tight singing. “I’m not a part of this, right?”

“Technically she doesn’t need your name,” Lian replied. “She could have scribed tall-stranger-with-eyes-that-say-touch-me-and-die, which could only be you.”

Jason laughed, the Brit scowled, while Adam cleared his throat, “The hat is enchanted to accept your name the second you cross the threshold, which I imagine you did at some point.” The Brit turned to glare at him. “Oh, that look, yes I see now.” He stuck his right hand out to him from his current role as Lian’s seatbelt. “Adam Quince, nice to meet ya.”

Skinny Brit eyed the offered hand with distaste, particularly as the attachment was still securing Lian in place, though she’d relaxed several minutes ago. Jason slipped his arm over the Brits shoulder and took Adam’s hand, speaking in a horrible Cockney accent. “Meetin yew in da flesh is a real treat, govna! Allow me ta introdewce myself, they calls me tall-stranger-killing-eyes they do!”

“I don’t sound like that!” Brit snapped, shoving his arm off. “Is that what you think of me—some street urchin from the 1800s?”

“Course not, dude, I just can’t imitate like Julie-Q.”

Lian shifted in his arms so her side was against his chest, giving her a better look at his face. “Adam?”

“Yes?”

“I can’t feel my hands. One’s okay, but once the left one goes, I’m in trouble.”

Adam sighed and relieved a bit of pressure, surprising himself at how much feeling he’d lost as well. He looked down at her as she stretched her arms overhead, eyes drawn to the steel prosthetic at once. Reaching up and taking it delicately in one hand he brought it closer to survey the machinery. “What happened to you?”

Lian watched him examine what was replacing her arm. “Long story.”

“You’re a good narrator.”

“It’s not storytime.”

“Will you tell me later?”

“Yes.”

“Tonight?”

“Maybe.”

The first hour passed unremarkably, until Perry Thompson was made to sing Bohemian Rhapsody, which inevitably turned into everyone (who knew it) loudly singing every part for the full six minutes. Adam noticed the Brit watching Lian as she sang proudly off-tune. Adam knew for a fact she was good, she just liked to play more than show-off. Sometimes, the two would coincide: then everyone was due for a good time.

She seemed to forget about Beck’s threat until Jason got up to sing Girl’s of the World. Beck claimed the spot, grinning maliciously at Lian. “I gotcha.”

“What did you do, Rap?” Lian guessed, not taking her eyes off of Jason.

“Nope. Worse.”

“Metal?”

“Nuh-uh.”

“Blues?”

“You like Blues, that’s not a punishment!”

“Why is everybody so keen on punishing me? What did I do?” Lian crossed her arms defensively.

“You left! Without telling anybody! We had to dig the truth out of Jake the first week back!” Beck growled, summarizing what most of them had felt at the beginning of their sixth year.

“I kept in touch.”

“Not nearly enough!” Vera called from behind them.

“Can’t wait to see you on stage, hon,” Beck told Lian, her eyes glinting darkly as she moved away.

Adam rested his chin atop her head again. “Happy you came, yet?”

She snorted softly. “Of course.”

“Enough to go back?” he asked innocently.

“Nope.”

A few songs after Jason, Lian was summoned. Rising like the morning sun she made her way to the stage, taking the mic in her hand. A couple people gasped at the sight of her steel arm, but she ignored them. Though, Adam smirked to himself, that might have been due to her hearing the name of the song Beck had chosen for her. The music started up with the piano, quick and steady. Glaring across the room at her friend, Lian began the first verse, her voice just as quick and steady.

“Tumble outta bed

And I stumble to the kitchen

Pour myself a cup of ambition

And yawn and stretch 

And try to come to life,”

Beside him, the Skinny Brit was all tense again. Jason was giving him a look over but after the last time he overstepped he didn’t seem eager to make a repeat. Okay, my turn.

“She’s good, huh,” Adam said, nudging Skinny.

Skinny shook his head. “She’s amazing. I can’t do this.”

“Too late, you’re in way over your head now. If you tried to leave Beck would probably shoot you.” The confused look told him Skinny had no idea what a gun was. “Just don’t try it.”

“I can’t believe you all come together to do this willingly. Half of them aren’t even good.”

“We know that, and some of them know that, but it’s all in good fun.” Adam replied with a shrug. “For instance, I know what song they’re gonna give me and my brothers. Big ol’ group number, the same every year.”

“Which is?”

“Hungry Like the Wolf, by Duran Duran.” It had started as a joke, one that Lian had instigated. But now it was karaoke tradition. Cas had spent most of the summer practicing his steps.

Skinny raised himself slightly. “I actually know that one.”

Adam grinned and clapped his back, likely stunting his growth in the process. “Great. You can go up there with us.” At the look of instant panic on Skinny’s face he added, “If you go up with us, you won’t have to go solo.”

“Did the hat tell you that?” he asked dryly.

“It’s one of the unspoken rules. At least that way, you won’t be just a spectator.”

“Ah.”

“There’s a better life

And you think about it don’t you

It’s a rich man’s game

No matter what they call it

And you spend your life

Putting money in his wallet…”

The song faded out and the room cheered as Lian made her way back amidst high fives and whistles. She did not return to Adam, however, she was about to settle on the floor in front. Adam grabbed her arm and switched spots with her in a whirl, resting his back against her knees. The entire exchange lasted about 4 seconds, at which point he craned his neck back to lay his head across her knees. “Good job, I know that was hard for you.”

Concealed to anyone that didn’t really know her, his Lian was seething. “I hate country,” she whispered.

“Which is a real shame if you think about it,” Jason told her, leaning across Skinny to make sure he heard her. “You've got the right vocals for it.” He then leaned back as far into the arm of the sofa as he could for fear of retaliation.

“Jason Marc Anthony King you take that back!”

“Julianne Queenie Kowalski how dare you pull the middle-that-must-not-be-named on me!” Jason answered, faux-shocked. “After all we’ve been through!”

They hugged one another, squashing Skinny Brit between them, apparently overcome with false emotion. Skinny made a soft grunt, not liking the close-encounter with Jason’s armpit for some reason. Lian pulled away first, trying not to smile too wide. “Oh, sorry Nott.”

Only on a surname basis, Adam observed quietly. All good then.

“Not my first suffocation,” he replied. “I admit this was far more enjoyable.”

As Lian laughed, Adam watched Skinny’s expression brighten and he understood. He wanted to impress her, desperately. That’s why he even came, to a place he was clearly ill-suited and ill-prepared for; he wanted Lian’s affection. Good luck with that. Adam and Lian had agreed upon a certain decorum during their fifth year. (That’s when it all became unbearable.) She would permit his hugs, so long as he didn’t try anything more. She never returned any of his physical efforts which, so she claimed, was key. But her acceptance of their situation was the important part: it kept all of them happy. Although there were days where he wondered if she perceived him as a loyal, overly affectionate puppy. And then there were times where he knew 100% that she saw him in that way. Times when, for instance, he’d seemed upset or distracted and she’d inquire if he needed his ears scratched.

But Adam had never felt the need to impress Lian—he was too busy being constantly impressed by her. Back in the early days of their schooling, she had been the one to figure out what he was before he’d told anybody. She was always trying to beat him academically, which kept him on his toes if he wanted to stay ahead. She joined and captained her houses’ Quadpot team just because he’d dared her to try out, thinking she’d only be subpar or mediocre. He’d learned very early on to never underestimate Lian Kowalski.

Still, when she’d jumped ship last year, it hadn’t only been a shock, it had been devastating. If she didn’t understand that, then he’d have to make her see.

But that would have to wait: as Adam was pulled from his thoughts by he and his brothers being summoned for their traditional number. He got to his feet, grabbed Skinny by the shoulder and pulled him along.

“Wait, now?!”

“Yep. You can sing back up with my younger brothers if you’d prefer. Just make some noise, hopefully in key, but we won’t hold it against you.”

River, Leo and Cas shot him bewildered expressions as he brought Skinny to the stage, but Adam merely shrugged and rolled his eyes. Just go with it.

River nodded and handed Skinny a mic as well. “Do you want to do the first verse, all on the chorus, me on the second verse and so on or-?”

“We did that last year. Switch on every line, you start.”

Cas puckered his lips at Adam. “You just wanna sing the cootie line to your lobster!”

Skinny looked both confused and concerned as he glanced up at Adam, making him laugh. “Shut up.”

The music began to play, and all five of them turned to face the crowded basement. A little screen in front had the lyrics on display, not that Adam, River and Leo needed them. Skinny and Cas on the other hand...

“Dark in the city night is a wire

Steam in the subway earth is afire,”

River began strong, while Cas and Leo filled in with the ‘do-do-do’s in the back. Hopefully Skinny was copying them, Adam didn’t have time to monitor that; it was his turn. Finding Lian’s face in the audience he sang,

“Woman you want me give me a sign

And catch my breathing even closer behind”

River picked up after Cas, Leo and hopefully Skinny did their bit. Adam joined in on the alternating lines.

“In touch with the ground

I’m on the hunt I’m after you

Smell like I sound I’m lost in a crowd

And I’m hungry like the wolf”

For some reason that line always got a reaction out of the older girls in the room. It might’ve had something to do with the expressions and gestures the Quince brothers saw fit to improvise on the spot. It was all about pleasing the masses, right? Adam was ready to switch parts with River for the next part but that was when Skinny decided to contribute.

“Straddle the line in discord and rhyme

I’m on the hunt I’m after you

Mouth is alive with juices like wine

And I’m hungry like the wolf”

Adam had one thought for the rest of the song, and it was not a kind thought. It was a thought he would never repeat aloud. Skinny’s gonna be a problem. If Adam knew anything about Lian, it was that the way to her heart and soul, provided all else failed, was through music. And as far as Skinny went, he was not bad.

The last note rang through the air as the four Quinces tossed back their heads and howled. True, their human voices were weak compared to the true howls they could summon once a month, but again, all about pleasing the masses.

The second he could leave the stage, Adam made a beeline for Lian, who had moved to the back of the room to get a drink. She had lifted her cup to take a sip, at which point Adam slipped it out of her fingers and gulped it down. “Hey!”

“Hey yourself,” Adam replied. “That’s not even the strong stuff.”

“It’s called water,” she grinned and went to reach for another cup. “And it’s the strongest liquid out there—can’t live without it.”

“Fair point.” He leaned against the counter to get a better look at her face. “How come I didn’t hear you laughing?” Another tradition—while most girls swooned or screamed, Lian usually laughed when the song came around.

“I was laughing so hard I could barely breathe, ask Jason. He thought I was I was having some kind of fit.” She glanced towards the sofa she’d vacated. Adam followed her eyes and found Skinny watching them.

“He likes you,” he stated, careful not to move his lips in case Skinny could read them.

Lian exhaled through her nose before replying. “I know.”

“You said he was in your new house..?”

Lian didn’t miss his tone. She gave him a sidelong look and said, “Your point?”

Adam shrugged. “Him coming to see you over the summer, his obvious obsession...one wonders if you’ve returned any of his attentions…”

She smirked, and the sight caused him a thrill and a flash of impatience. Stonewalling him was one thing, but passing over for another guy—Hell no. “Jealous, Quince?” He refused to dignify that with a response so she added, “No, I haven’t given him any affection.” She was the Legilimens, but Adam would swear until the day he died he could hear her think, ‘But I’ve thought about it.’

Some primal instinct inside demanded that he show her, prove to her right then and there why she could never think or look at anyone other than himself. He shoved the urge away, grateful the moon was waning; otherwise, he might’ve had a bit more of a fight. She’d sensed his momentary struggle, evidenced by the fact that she’d taken a cautionary step back. Taking a deep breath he said in an effort to slightly change the subject, “Why did you leave Ilvermorny?”

She slumped her shoulders. “I told you I was leaving, multiple times!”

Adam shook his head. “Yeah, but after several years of red herrings nobody believed you actually would. Remember back in 2nd year you yelled in the middle of Charms, ‘That’s it! I’m going to Hogwarts!’ and then you marched out of the room.”

She chuckled fondly. “Professor Butler gave me detention for a whole week.”

“And I joined you because I wouldn’t stop laughing,” he reminded her.

Lian squinted up at him, while someone started singing Summer Lovin’ up on stage. “We had a lot of detentions together. Remember back in 5th year I got caught transfiguring the doorknobs on all the teacher’s offices? Didn’t you bite Derek Hansen just so you would be in trouble with me?”

“Yep.” Adam gave her an especially toothy grin. “S’not my fault he was Lyncanthropophobic. It was in the middle of the day; too easy!”

“They say it’s your fault he’s homeschooled nowadays.”

“Ilvermorny’s a better place without that kind of prejudice.”

Lian gave a cute snort in response to that. “Ohhh Ilvermorny knows nothing of prejudice.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Hogwarts is that bad, huh?”

She puckered her lips and shook her head. “It’s not bad. It’s different.”

“You’re really going back?” She nodded. “And there’s nothing I can say to persuade you otherwise?” She shook her head. Adam sighed dramatically. “Then I suppose the mature thing to do would be to let you go.”

He was almost offended by the ray of hope dancing in her eyes. “Really??”

“C’mon Lian,” he scoffed, before pulling her into his arms and squeezing her tight. “You know me better than that.”

He could’ve sworn she mumbled something along the lines of dangit into his shirt, but allowed him to hold her all the same. She had her reasons for not wanting things to progress between them and he had heard all of them. And unfortunately, he had very little arguments against those reasons. But still, she respected his situation as he respected her. It wasn’t perfect, but it also wasn’t forever.

And he was in it for the long game. As she would be reminded of, in less than a month’s time.

-

* * *

I took a deep breath before entering the estate. I wasn’t careful to keep my entrance quiet, but I was still surprised that the first person to confront me was the young master of the house, not one of the house-elves. Draco Malfoy glared down at me from the first landing of the spiral staircase, which would have been intimidating had he not been adorned in a bathrobe and slippers. I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing aloud, and I coughed into my arm to hide the smile creeping across my mouth.

“Where the blazes have you been?” he demanded as I drew near. “Mother said you’d left early yesterday morning!”

“I wasn’t aware of a curfew,” I replied smartly, hoping that sounded normal.

Draco cocked his head back as he scowled. “Yes you were, or weren’t you listening to Mothers list delivered via Kipsy?”

“I guess not,” I replied, moving past him only to have my upper arm seized in a vice grip. “Problem, Draco?”

“You’ve yet to answer my inquiry. Where have you been?” I could practically hear him grinding his teeth, and resisted the urge to comment.

“I was out with Lian and several of her American friends,” I answered plainly. “I apologize for the lateness,” a small smirk played across my mouth as I added, “but in my defense, we were in a different time zone.”

Draco squinted at me, grey eyes raking my face and posture. “You sound funny.” I squinted back, quirking a single eyebrow, wondering if it was obvious I was holding my breath. “...It’s decided. You’re not allowed to hang around those Americans on your own.”

“Whatever you say,” I replied dryly, giving him a sarcastic little bow.

He let me march a few steps past him before speaking again. “We’re leaving tomorrow.”

I paused and turned my head. “What?”

“I made a mistake in coming here. I don’t need her help, neither of us do. We’ll drop by, modify her memory and leave..”

I kept my back to him as I responded, keeping my voice steady and light. “If you think that’s what’s best…”

“That’s it? No argument or rebuttal?” Draco scoffed. “Who are you and what have you done with Theo?”

I gave a soft chuckle. “What’s the point in arguing? You’ve clearly made up your mind and nothing I say will change it. My trusted and intelligent friend Draco would never make a bold announcement without first planning out every step and predicting each upcoming obstacle. You say go, I guess we’ll go.”

His silence spoke volumes. I allowed it to stretch for as long as he needed to suffer it. “...well, maybe not every step…”

I gave a gasp of surprise, even though I’d fully expected as much. “If you’re not fully decided, why raise the issue at all?” And then I turned on the stair to gaze dramatically down my nose at him. “Unless you were counting on me to refuse?”

Draco shrugged his shoulders, though clearly exasperated. “Shouldn’t you?”

Leaning on the banister I glanced towards the unlit chandelier. “Well, I suppose I could ask why you’d want such a sudden departure, after all you haven’t learned proper Occlumency from Kowalski just yet.” Draco opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off. “And I suppose I could conclude that you’ve decided that it’s not worth the risk. After all—allowing her to dive into your thoughts and emotions would render you vulnerable and your pride won’t allow for that.” He coughed uncomfortably and tried to interrupt but I was on a roll. “Because of course when all is said and all is done the ancient and noble Malfoy pride will save you from the Dark Lord’s wrath, right? Learning proper defensive mental magic is a waste. You’re right. We should just pack up and be on our high and mighty way.”

By this juncture Draco was looking quite cross with me. “Will you shut it?”

“You’re the one who wanted me to speak,” I reminded him, before promptly shutting my mouth.

“You realize that we’re betraying everything we’ve been taught our entire lives, don’t you?” I raised both eyebrows and tilted my head at him as if to say, Duh. “I mean, are you sure we’d rather choose to side with Saint Potter over the man who has been fighting to liberate wizards from under the oppressive and barbaric Muggles?”

Knowing it was a risk, but unable to help myself, I laughed aloud. Draco jumped in alarm, wondering if I’d completely lost my mind. “Oppressive?! Barbaric, perhaps, but oppressive? Has being literally surrounded by their kind shown you nothing??”

“I’ve seen how a wizarding family such as Lian’s is prevented from living to standard because they’re petrified of being discovered by their Muggle neighbors.”

“Draco, they choose to live the way they do because it befits their family. Mr. Kowalski’s a Squib, after all.”

“He’s a what?!”

“They live in balance with magic and non. It’s as natural as breathing for them.” I shook my head. “But that’s not the point: the Muggles aren’t oppressive or aggressive. They’re ignorant, and happier that way. If wizards came into the light, they would be the oppressive ones. D’you realize Muggles outnumber us a hundred to one? The world can’t function without them.”

“Why not?” Draco demanded, though I could see shades of doubt in his eyes now. He was stubbornly resisting his own logic now. “It’d be a better world with all wizards.”

“It would be chaos out there if we only had to worry about wizards? Can’t you see that the secrecy from the Muggles protects wizards from bringing about our own destruction? Sure, we’re better, wiser and more powerful—isn’t that a good enough reason to protect them?”

“But what use are they?”

“I defy you to spend a day in the Muggle world and still be able to say they’re useless. Without them we’d still be riding around on horseback. Without them—” Draco was shaking his head at me. “What?”

“These are Kowalski’s words, not yours,” he said.

If only you knew the half of it, I thought. “So what? Is she wrong? Allow me to answer that for us both: no. Is she planning to use the information she gleans from our memories against us? Again: no.”

“How can you take her at her word? What power does she hold over you?” Draco ran a hand through his blond locks, revealing just how stressed he was. “It must be some potent magic, as she’s convinced you to pick Dumbledore’s side.”

My eye twitched at the mention of the old man. “She’s a truth seeker. She saw the truth of Slytherin in three seconds, and she’s been rebuking the rest of us ever since. She sees the world for what it could be, and would fight tooth and nail to make it so. I don’t choose Voldemort,” I relished Draco’s wince. “I don’t choose Dumbledore and Puppet-Potter. I choose the one person who will definitely survive this war, whatever the outcome. I choose Lian Kowalski.” I waited for the impact of those words to wash over him before driving it home. “And if you had any amount of sense, so would you.”

I left him standing on the stair, utterly speechless. I made my way to the guest bedroom and shut and locked the door behind me, releasing a long sigh. Then, I withdrew my teak wand and waved it at the bed, where Theodore Nott’s body materialized immediately. Already I could tell the effects of the polyjuice potion we’re wearing off as his short, neatly groomed hair extended into my wild and unkept locks, falling against my shoulder blades now. As I crossed the room and returned to my normal height, only a few inches difference really, Nott snored a little, giving me to know that he was alive.

I took a moment to implement my memory of what just happened into his subconscious. Behind disguised as him, he could easily adopt it into his own identity, and it would prevent any after-conversings after I left. Although I wasn’t too concerned; Draco Malfoy did not seem to be the type to bring up times where he was unable to argue.

Nice, kid. I sometimes forget what a good actor you’ve become.

Part of the job, I thought in reply. Opening the window and summoning my ride, I was almost out clean when there was a CRACK right behind me.

“M-Master Roman?” A small voice wailed.

I glanced down at my old house elf, Kipsy. So, she had been passed over to Narcissa after I left. Given the choices, I wasn’t terribly upset by that. “Hey. It’s good to see you again.”

The old she elf’s eyes grew wet and she hugged my calf, sobbing quietly into the fabric. “M-Master! Kipsy knew you wasn’t dead! Kipsy knew it!”

I reached down at patted the top of her head. “You’ve got to keep pretending I am, Kipsy. I’m sorry but I need you to keep me a secret.”

She stepped away to gaze up at me, unaware of the sizable snot-bubble she’d created. “Anything for you, Master,” she whispered, though she was still shaking with emotion.

Nodding once, I climbed out the window and onto the carpet waiting for me. I had one final stop before the night’s end, anyway…


	5. It's Time to Begin, Isn't It?

It was midnight. She knew because the grandfather clock downstairs was chiming loudly. Normally she could sleep right through it, like everyone else, but something was wrong. Below her bed a floorboard squeaked. She did not sit up or call out; she simply waited, keeping the rhythm of her breath steady. Nothing announced to an intruder that you were awake like breathing too fast or too slow.

After a long pause, she dared open her eyes, just enough to peek through her eyelashes. The lights of the Empire State Building illuminated her room, giving the intruder a silhouette as he lingered near her desk. She went to grab her wand from where it rested under her pillow, but it wasn’t there.

Okay, Lian thought grimly. Muggle-style. Keeping her breathing steady, she slipped out from under her blanket and landed catlike on the floor, her knees absorbing the impact before she moved swiftly towards the stranger in her room. He might’ve seen movement in his peripheral but by the time he turned around she had already leapt into the air. Clamping her legs around his neck she twisted and used her whole body to slam him down, sitting on his back with his face squashed against the hardwood.

“What are you doing in my house?” She demanded. “Who sent you?”

The man chuckled beneath her. “Paranoid, much?”

She felt a jolt as she recognized that voice. Lian hopped to her feet and grabbed her wand off the desk, turning the light on with a flick. Then she pointed it at the man who was in seconds standing before her again. Was it her imagination, or had he grown taller since they last met? Maybe it was his hair that was longer. But his cold steel eyes were the same, and as impenetrable as ever. She didn’t even bother to pierce his mind this time, after years of trying she knew better.

“Roman,” saying his name aloud felt strange. He was the stuff of legends, or nightmares. She couldn’t tell anymore. “What do you want?”

He raised his hands placatingly, or to surrender. “Nothing. I only came to—why are you upset?”

Lian grit her teeth. She hated that too; she had never been able to look into his mind further than a name, and she was 90% certain he’d fed that one to her, but he could always, always see right through her, even with all her training and progress. “If you’ve come to save my neck again you’re too late,” she growled, raising her right arm for him to inspect. “I thought for certain this latest venture would be the death of me.”

“But it wasn’t,” he stated, sounding almost bored. “You’re a survivor, Lian. More than you know.”

She fought the urge to curl her lip. “Yeah, right. If I was such a survivor, what’ve you been doing all these years you’ve followed me?”

He shrugged, as though the answer was obvious. “Making sure nothing went wrong.”

“Well something went wrong in June! Where were you then, huh?!” She would later wonder why her parents or siblings hadn’t heard her yelling, why no one came to check on her. “It’s your fault I’ve become so reckless, you know! Because for four years every time something went wrong and I was in deep  shit , there you were to pull me back! But you weren’t there in June and I had to make a decision! I saved a man’s life, almost costing my own in the process! Do you know what it’s like to lose, build and reattach an arm, Roman?! Do you?!?!”

He lowered his hands, watching her face carefully. “It’s okay. You can take out all your fear on me, I know you hate feeling vulnerable and lost.”

“Then why would you abandon me??”

Roman sighed, his face as unreadable as ever. Lian couldn’t be sure if he was feeling sympathy, pity or regret. “Because you don’t need my help anymore. It’s your turn now…”

She stiffened. “What are you talking about?”

He tapped a box on her desk that hadn’t been there before, and said, “It’s time you had this. Everything will be clear soon, I promise.” And as he moved to leave she fired the first spell that came to mind.

And then, she awoke with a jump, her left hand still pointed out, only it was devoid of her wand and it was aimed at the ceiling. She sat up, hearing the grandfather clock downstairs chime out for 1am. Had she been dreaming?

Taking her wand out from under her pillow she turned on the lights and hopped down, catlike and crossed the open space to her desk. A little black box that hadn’t been there before she’d fallen asleep was lying amidst the general mess, with a small note beside it. In fancy calligraphy it read: “Good luck.”

A sense of dizziness washed over her as she lifted the lid and stared at the object inside. Her eyes told her it was an hourglass, and her mind told her it was a bad idea but she took it out anyway and held it up to the light. It was silver, while the sands inside were a strange reddish brown, reminding Lian oddly of old blood… it wasn’t ordinary sand either, it was frozen between the top and bottom halves, in strands not unlike DNA… the top was weird too—instead of flat or rounded, the silver came to a kind of point, or a small blade. And unless Lian was very mistaken, the center part kinda looked like a needle.

Holding the hourglass in her right hand, she raised her index finger from her left and gently pressed against the pointed part, the blade for lack of a better term. It punctured her skin but no blood was spilt. Instead she watched as a single drop entered the glass and fell upon the frozen sand. At once it began to swirl and dance almost violently within the confines of the two parts. The entirety of the sands were flushed with new crimson color as Lian’s blood was stirred around and then she felt a tugging sensation around her navel, followed by a soft pop.

In the blink of an eye she was standing, staggering against the wind as it pushed her this way and that—sand in her eyes, nose and mouth as she cried out in alarm. Suddenly she was aware of being barefoot, in her summer pajamas, seemingly in the middle of a terrific sandstorm. She thought she heard a voice but it was difficult to tell with the sand and wind roaring in her ears. Lian opened her mouth to call out but her throat was already too dry. She had the thought that she’d be hyperventilating if only her lungs could remember how to breathe.

Lian awoke with such a violent jump she literally fell out of her bed, colliding with the floor with a loud groan. Aunt May was standing at her desk, all her tools already set out. “Ready to get to work, Kid?” May asked cheerfully, not evening bothering to hide her amusement.

She felt her face, lips, arms and rubbed the sand out of her eyes. (The regular just-woke-up kind, not the burning, angry, trapped and going to suffocate kind.) “Y-Yeah...I think so.”

Had she been dreaming? Normally her dreams were less lucid and more random. But the alternative would mean that the mysterious Roman had given her a silver hourglass with a strange blade… Why?

———

* * *

“Come on,” she said gently, though her insides were clenched with impatience. “Try again.”

“I can’t concentrate!” Draco snapped. “There are too many distractions!”

Lian took a deep, deep inhale before exhaling slowly through her mouth. “The world is full of distractions, they keep life interesting...but the key to Occlumency is learning how to clear your mind in spite of them.”

“Yeah man,” Jason called from across her bedroom, where he and Theo were engaged in their own type of mindgame. “Don’t even worry about me, I’m just a fly on the--BAM! TAKE THAT YOU HORSE!” he punched the air and cheered as his rook whacked Theo’s piece clear off the board.

“For the last time,” Theo growled. “It’s called a knight.”

“How ‘bout you correct me when you can beat me, aight?” Jason said smugly. “Checkmate.”

“What! No, it’s only been five turns!” Theo glared at the board indignantly.

“Fly on the wall my arse,” Draco grumbled under his breath. In a much louder voice he said, “Tell them to be quiet.”

Lian shrugged. “I don’t need to. You can drown out every noise if you do as I say.”

Draco perked right up at that. “Really?” His eyes widened at her emphatic nod. “Start with that next time…”

Lian hid a grin as they both straightened their postures and began again; Draco clearing his mind of all thought, emotion and memories, while she slunk around the shadows and pointed out the weak spots and if necessary gave him something to be concerned about.

She never asked why they came back around, and never requested they study at the Malfoy’s place again. Her room had always been her safe haven, and maybe in a way they were beginning to see it as such as well.

Theo had always been willing to listen to her, but the change in Draco was almost unsettling. He’d asked her specific questions about what they were trying to achieve, both long and short term goals, and in the past 72 hours had shown true improvement. So of course, she had to give him challenges.

Enter Jason.

While he was normally an extremely curious person with unending questions, she’d briefed him beforehand and had been clear: he was not to interrogate either of her foreign allies. That had earned her a pair of raised eyebrows and a soft, “Both of them are allies now? Dang girl.”

To which she had replied, “Shut up.”

Returning to her current situation, which was prodding at Malfoy’s mind while their friends argued loudly in the background over whether or not Jason cheated, Lian noticed that despite all his whining, Draco could actually maintain a state of reflection. Not in a traditional sense, he just kept picturing a large mirror reflecting only himself. His image was blank-faced and staring ahead as though in a trance. Lian metaphorically reached out and flicked his forehead. The reaction in the real world was much the same, Draco recoiled, his hands flying to his head as he cried out. “What was that!?”

“Just one way a Legilimens can cause you to break concentration. But that was very good, Malfoy. Let’s go again…” she stretched her shoulders, ignoring his faint groan of resignation. His compliance with her ideas was as unnerving as his willingness to listen, but she wasn’t going to complain so long as there were results to be had.

They kept working until dinner, which was prepared by Lian’s father while her mother worked late again, and after cleaning up with various renditions of It’s a Hard Knock Life, the four of them returned to her bedroom. Well, three, Jason had to use the little wizards room.

“Can I come up?” Fi asked loudly, grabbing Lian by the left arm and tugging. “Please?”

“We’re not hanging out for fun, Fi,” Lian said firmly. “We’re working!”

“Then what’s Jason doing here?” her little sister demanded.

“Despite what you might think or perceive,” she began patiently. “Jason is a very diligent worker.”

“Work like chess?”

Lian curled her lip. “Stay out of his head!”

Seraphina smirked. “I didn’t get it from Jason, I got it from the cute one.”

Wondering where her little sister’s innocence had disappeared to, Lian slammed the door shut and marched up the stairs. Theo and Draco were waiting for her, and Draco had a dour expression, his hands folded behind his back. Before he could make his inquiry however, Theo asked, “Who’s the cute one?”

“I’d rather not know,” she replied through her teeth, before nodding at Draco. “What’s got your wand in a twist?”

Draco held up his hand, revealing the silver hourglass between his thumb and index finger. Lian felt her stomach jump into her lungs as he spoke, “What the hell is this?”

She reached for her pocket, the place where she last knew the item to be and cursed when she found that it was indeed empty. It must’ve fallen out earlier. “It’s nothing.” She moved to grab it from him but he held it out of her reach.

“Do you think I’m stupid? I know a Time-Turner when I see one! Why do you have it?” Draco’s voice had returned to his usual snide and cold tone. She could practically see his faith and trust in her dissolving.

“It was a gift, I haven’t actually used it,” she replied calmly, knowing that raising her voice would only make matters worse. “Well, I did on accident, but nothing happened!”

“A gift from who?” Theo inquired, but was practically drowned out by Draco’s next question.

“Nothing that you know about! Have you any idea what happens to wizards that meddle with Time?!”

“Do you?” Lian genuinely wanted to know. Why was he getting so riled up over this?

“What do you think I’ve been doing? Jumping back a few years and killing all the butterflies? I’m not stupid enough to interfere!” Draco hesitated, or maybe he was charging up for his next verbal attack, either way Lian seized her chance and jumped, grabbing the hourglass from his hands and shoving it back in her pocket. She felt a slight sting from her thumb and when she withdrew her hand she saw something like unto a papercut. But after the last time she’d pricked her finger, she knew better. “Oh no.”

“You give me that, clearly you don’t know what you’re doing!” Draco went to reach into her pocket, she held him back with her right arm while Theo tried to pry them apart.

“Guys! We should really just-”

There was a soft pop, a tugging sensation, and the three of them were standing knee-deep in snow. For the boys, with their slacks and blazers, not so bad. For Lian in the torn denim and t-shirt, it was a bit brisk. Theo let go instantly, and Draco stumbled back.

“Great Salazar! Kowalski, what in the name of sanity are we doing at Hogwarts? Outside? In midwinter?!”

“As I was just telling you, Malfoy, I’m not entirely sure how it works yet. I’ve only done it once before and that time I wound up in-” she recalled the vicious sandstorm with perfect clarity but heard herself say “-Australia.” She gazed around the deserted grounds, only distinctly recognizable by the lights from the castle. The sky was clear and the moon was full, so that helped with visibility. They were halfway between the Black Lake and the Whomping Willow, which was moving and groaning as opposed to its usual relaxed and stationary state. Maybe there was a creature on its trunk and it didn’t like it.

“Well, if you could find a way to get us back before we catch our deaths out here, that would be brilliant,” said Theo, shivering and fighting to remain calm.

A snarling, growling sound snatched her attention, and Lian spotted the skinny creature darting out past the Willow’s reach. That would’ve been fine, so long as they kept their wits about them, but then, closer to the creature than to where they were standing, came a cry. “HELP!”

“What was tha-” Draco gave a high-pitched scream as Lian ran off into the snow on all five legs. “KOWALSKI WHAT THE HELL-”

In her Animagus form, Lian charged to the source of the cry, her cat eyes finding the monster just as it advanced on its prey. Fangs glistening in the moonlight, the creature prepared to bite, to tear the kid apart. When she was close, Lian fluffed out her fur to make herself look bigger, and released a terrifying roar. The monster glanced towards her, eyes wide and ears flat, as a low growl emitted from deep in its chest. The boy, who was lying face down in red snow, looked at her in fear, wondering if she was going to kill him too.

Lashing her tail and baring her fangs, Lian dashed across the snow and roared again, forcing the monster to back away from its prey. It tried to run towards the forbidden forest so she gave chase, catching him and dragging him into a battle that would dictate dominance. Given that she had an extra paw, she wasn’t terribly concerned.

The monster, she now understood to be a very young, very scared werewolf, fought her for survival, not because he thought he could defeat her. She held back, feeling less like a lioness taking down a wildebeest and more like a house cat attacking a ball of yarn. A ball of yarn with sharp fangs and claws.

After struggling against her for several minutes, the werewolf went limp beneath her. Suspecting a tactic, Lian placed her forepaw on his shoulders, pressing him deeper into the snow before resting her fangs against his throat. The werewolf snarled defiantly, but she only applied more pressure until that snarl simmered into a pitiful whine. She straightened and stepped back, keeping her focus on him. Her legilimency revealed that he was meant to be hiding under the willow, apparently that was his cage or prison until the full moon had gone away. She sniffed at the dark red stains on his pelt and realized that she hadn’t actually hurt him, but he had struck at her again and again. The little werewolf was coated in her blood.

That wasn’t going to freak him out when he woke up in human form, not even a little. She licked at his ear, thinking You poor thing… She waited for him to calm down before herding him back to the whomping willow. The tree began to sway warningly but a soft nip at the werewolf’s hindquarters sent him yelping forward. She darted around the tree, and was faster than the werewolf, and therefore more of a threat to the willow, which attacked and bent for her first. She took the lashes, not seeing the werewolf re-enter his hidey hole but knowing he succeeded. Thus, she returned to her allies, who had gone to help the boy in the snow.

Under their surveillance she transformed back into a girl, a bit worse for wear in the injuries department but altogether okay. “We’d better get him inside,” she nodded at the student who was currently lying on a stretcher. Suddenly her pocket blazed white-hot and as she placed a hand over where the hourglass was hidden she could almost feel the sands raging and swirling within it. “Scratch that, we don’t have time.” She pulled her wand out of her back belt loop and waved it over the boy. Episkey! The boy grunted as the spell washed through his ribcage, as Lian had quickly deduced that to be his problem. “That should hold you together until morning, but I’d pay Madam Pomfrey a visit, just to be on the safe side.” Wait, is Madam Pomfrey even working at the school in this time? Matter of fact, what year is it?

She peeked into the boy’s mind very briefly, found that it was barely 1972, the boy was a nosy Ravenclaw who had just found out one of his friends was a werewolf. He did not take it as well as I did. Another flick of her wand and she sent him drifting back towards the castle, straight for the west wing. She trusted him to find his way from there.

There was another tugging sensation, a small pop, and the three of them stood in her room once more.

Immediately Lian moved to her desk and withdrew a vial of Dittany, placing them on her cuts and gashes. The young werewolf tried to bite her, but she knew well the consequences of that action. He’d only scratched her, but no matter how many times she wouldn’t turn. Adam would kill me.

“YOU’RE AN ANIMAGUS!?” Draco yelled. Apparently placing him in highly stressful situations without warning was a bad idea. He was regressing if anything.

“Calm down,” she said, turning to them as she massaged the potion against her wounds. “You’ll bring the entire household down on us.”

“YOU TURNED INTO A-” he hesitated. “WHAT WAS THAT THING?”

The door to her room opened, making all three of them jump. Jason came up the stairs, rubbing his ear. “What’s with all the shouting? I wasn’t in the bathroom that long.”

Predictably, Draco pointed an accusing finger at Lian, gazing at her bemused friend. “SHE TURNED INTO A GIANT CAT!”

Jason burst out laughing. “You never told them? Even after I came around? Oh that’s hilarious!”

Afraid they would speak without thinking, Lian reached out with her Legilimency, thinking straight into Draco and Theo’s heads. Normally she could only achieve this with another Legilimens, but as she had been training them for the last little while, she already had a kind of connection to the both of them. This action was merely pushing the limit of that bond. Do not mention the hourglass. Do not speak of the werewolf, the boy, or going to Hogwarts in wintertime. We were here, in my room. I turned into my animagus form to spook Draco. Nothing else happened.

Draco and Theo recoiled physically, the invasion of mental privacy resulting in a sudden and awful headache. Jason looked momentarily concerned despite his mirth. “Y’all okay?”

“Just fine,” Theo recovered first. “I just remembered that Belter you delivered.”

“Yes,” Draco added, quick on the uptake for a change. “What was that bloody song, anyway?”

Lian gave Jason a serious look. “I don’t think they’re ready for West Side Story, yet,”

He pondered her words and shrugged. “I dunno, according to Fi they’ve already seen Star Wars.”

Lian smiled. “True, but still, West Side’s a little intense.”

Draco gave a harsh laugh. “No offense Kowalski, but we can handle intense.”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Oh, really?”

Theo nodded. “Yes, especially since you’ve been intense since day one.”

Lian placed a hand on her chest dramatically. “Me intense? What about this boy who-” she pointed at Draco “-stole my wand, and instructed a bunch of older students to hang me upside-down?”

“Says the girl who stole everyone’s wand and hid them in Gryffindor Tower,” Theo replied, making Draco gasp.

“She hid them where?!”

Jason laughed. “That’s tame, dudes. She ever tell you about 4th year, when she made everybody—” Lian closed the space between them and slapped a hand over his mouth.

“I think it's time you went home, Jason,” she said firmly, beginning to try and frog march him back down the stairs. He planted his feet into her floor and refused to move another inch. “Come on...OW!” she recoiled her hand and wiped it on her shirt. “You bit me!”

Jason held up her wand, which he had slipped from her belt loop while she’d been pushed at him. With a simple spell he’d frozen her feet to the floor, and continued to speak despite her interruptions. “I don’t think you two fully understand what kind of person you’re dealing with,” he said conversationally to Draco and Theo.

“Whatever he’s about to say, he’s lying!” Lian insisted.

“What do you mean?” asked Theo warily. She didn’t have to be a Legilimens to know he was thinking about the Veritaserum episode.

“In our 4th year,” Jason began, now prowling around them like a predator. “Someone found the main line for the entire school’s shampoo. Someone was experimenting with their potions midterm assignment. Someone—”

“It wasn’t me!” Lian snapped. “That perp was never caught!” She was more than a little annoyed that her so-called allies seemed more interested in listening to Jason’s accusations than helping and defending her.

“Someone,” Jason continued as though she hadn’t spoken, “poured the contents of thirty cauldrons worth into the shampoo supply. We all had color-changing hair for six weeks, and that’s not even the worst part,” he added, almost as a commentary to the British.

“What’s the worst part?” Theo asked.

“Traitor!” Lian hissed.

“When the potion ran out and we could finally use normal shampoo again, everyone—and I mean everyone—became bald overnight. Certain girls swore an oath to never speak to her again.”

“Who needs them? Their hair grew back eventually!” Lian sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jason stopped circling and punched the air in triumph. “HA! You admit to it then! I always suspected but could never get you to confess!”

Lian struggled against the charm that held her in place. “What! I thought Adam blabbed on me!”

-

* * *

As soon as Jason left, Draco’s demeanor demonized almost immediately. “You have yet to answer my question! Why do you have a Time-Turner that also operates as a portkey!?”

“I already told you, it was a gift!” Lian responded, most exasperated than irritated now. She had neither the patience or motivation or reason to tell Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott about the mysterious Roman that had followed her every move for the past few years. He only ever turned up when she was alone, and she never felt like telling any of her friends or family about their encounters, since the conclusions would be she’s crazy or suicidal.

Or both.

Which she wasn’t.

“From who?” Theo asked again, but Lian was already shaking her head.

“That’s my business.”

“Hardly!” Draco scoffed. “If that’s your definition of ‘not interfering’ the world will burn with a tool like that in your possession.”

“Gee, thanks Malfoy.”

She wished they’d never seen the hourglass. Wished they’d never jumped back in time--what if the kid she’d saved had grown up to be a murderer? And now that they knew, they would never stop harping her about it. But she didn’t want to tell them anything, didn’t want to expose such a vulnerable part of herself to them. If only there was a way…

Chewing her lip, Lian pointed to the opposite wall. “I’ll tell you who gave it to me and why I have to keep it, but you both can’t look at me while I’m talking, alright?” Bit of an odd request, out of left field maybe, but luckily for her they both perceived her to be a very odd, far out of left field type of person.

“Fine,” Theo sighed and turned his back to her without complaint.

“Why?” Draco asked, squinting at her.

“Please just do it.” She waited patiently until Draco slowly turned away, his entire posture tense as though he expected her to throw something or jump on him.

If only it were that simple… Raising her wand, keeping her mind clear of any distractions as she took a deep, steadying breath, Lian thought, Obliviate!


	6. Return to Hogwarts

September 1st

Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with people by the time the Kowalski’s emerged through the barrier. Deciding to see her off properly this year, her father also had the ulterior motive of convincing her that going to school at Hogwarts this year was a bad idea. The entire trip he’d read aloud passages from a book he’d found called, Hogwarts: an Education at What Cost? by Rita Skeeter. So far their family had heard stories of a giant snake either sleeping or rotting somewhere in the bowels of the castle, a list of fatal “accidents” that had occurred on the Quidditch pitch alone, and he’d just reached the chapter that outlined the death of a girl who now haunted a toilet.

“Oh I know her,” Lian said matter-of-factly. “They call her Moaning Myrtle.”

“How come?” Fi asked, swinging her hand with her sisters as she peered around at the crowded platform.

“She tends to howl and well, moan, if you make the mistake of using her toilet.” Lian chuckled. “A mistake which I have never made.”

“Uh huh,” said Jake, not believing her for a second. “Fi, what are you doing?”

She shrugged. “Just looking for misters tall, dark and handsome,” she replied casually, then, tugging on her sister’s arm she added, “remember, I get the one you don’t want.”

Lian resisted the temptation to spank her. “I don’t remember any such arrangement.”

“Um!” Jake interjected. “I would like to add that she doesn’t want either of them!”

“Of course not,” Fi said silkily, and unconvincingly. “And I might have dreamt about it; but you should’ve known that Ju-Ju.” Her eyes widened comically as she spotted a boy with neatly styled brown hair. “THERE’S ONE!”

Lian slapped her hand over Fi’s mouth, shoving her along, not even looking at whomever she’d discovered. Her little sister chuckled despite her situation. “I knew we should’ve left you at home,” Lian grumbled.

“I still think Dad’s idea of trapping her in the attic until she’s thirty is the best choice,” Jake added. Fi shook her head, trying to break free of Lian’s hold on her.

“Julie, you’d better get on board,” said her mother from where she stood alongside her father.

“Unless of course you changed your mind,” said Dad hopefully, waving Skeeter’s book under her nose.

Shaking her head, Lian hugged her parents, her little sister and finally her brother. “Keep an eye on Fi when you guys go back to school,” she whispered warningly. “And Adam, ok?”

“Ooh,” Jake shuddered. “Just give me all the hard work, why don’t you? You better write more this time or I’ll be forced to send Jason after you.”

“I’m so scared,” she replied sarcastically. She rubbed his shoulders before pulling away, wrestled her suitcase from her father’s grip, pecked his cheek and jumped on board before he could tell her another story about some poor sap getting trampled, cursed or murdered in some dark corner of Hogwarts. “Love you!” she called to her family, waving as she moved back, pulling her luggage after her.

“MERLIN’S BEARD!” she jumped in surprise and turned in time to watch the ash blonde charge at her from the other side of the train car. “I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I-” Astoria Greengrass collided with her, wrapping her arms around Lian’s waist. “-knew you’d come back!”

Lian laughed aloud, patting Astoria on the top of her head. She hadn’t grown much in the way of height, but she’d certainly tanned, likely from spending the summer break somewhere sunny. “Hello to you too.”

Astoria pulled away, beaming brilliantly up at her. “I’m so glad to see you! Daphne said you weren’t going to, that you were going back to your old school in America, but I still hoped. I can’t wait to play Quidditch again; and this year we’re certainly going to win! Do you know who the captain is? Do you think it’s Draco? It’s probably Draco-”

Lian smiled as she listened, waving to her family one last time as the whistle blew and steam began to billow across the platform. She noticed that Jake wasn’t looking at her anymore as Astoria prattled on and on beside her, which caused her to chuckle.

“We should probably find a place to sit,” she said to Astoria when her friend paused for breath.

“Um, Compartment J is where you’ll ‘find a spot’,” said Astoria, as though that was obvious. “I’ve got to get back to my friends, but I had to talk to you! See you later!”

In the blink of an eye, she was gone and Lian was walking gracefully despite the movement of the train as it made its semi-annual trip out of London. She recognized a few faces from the DA, but no one that was particularly happy to see her, as Astoria had been. Figures. It wasn’t as though she left Hogwarts at the end of last term in a blaze of glory. Try middle of the night, bleeding and mortally wounded. 

Finally arriving at J, she slid the door open and stuck her head inside. Daphne and Blaise were arguing, Crabbe and Goyle were sitting sentinels near the door. As she hovered over the threshold, they all looked around, giving Lian familiar expressions.

“What are you waiting for, an invitation? Get in here and shut the door!” Blaise barked.

“What’s the magic word?” said Lian in a sing-song voice.

“Accio American!” he cried, though without his wand so the spell had no effect. Lian smiled, moving into the compartment and settled between the window and Blaise.

“Aw, someone missed me,” she teased.

“Innocente fino a prova contraria,” Blaise said dismissively.

Daphne smiled warmly at her, but remained decidedly more classy than her younger sister. “It’s good to see you,” she began, her wide blue eyes looking all over. “I was so convinced that you weren’t-Lian?” her eyes had latched onto Lian’s right arm. “What is that?”

Blaise looked around, and as the door slid open yet again Lian raised her arm and rolled up her sleeve. “It’s a prosthetic. I had something akin to surgery over the summer.”

“But,” Daphne had covered her mouth in shock. “What happened to you?”

“I lost most of my forearm when I stepped in front of a dark curse aimed at a man called Sirius Black, the sender being a woman named Bellatrix Lestrange.” She knew her Slytherin friends knew who both of those individuals were, but she was trying to remain as neutral in speech as possible. She had no way of knowing (without lowering her mental protections) which way they’d turn in the days to come. “If she hadn’t used dark magic, they could’ve just grown it back; but she did so they couldn’t. My aunt’s a prodigy when it comes to Alchemy, so she was able to help me design and build it. The procedure is technically illegal, if it’s done by an underaged Alchemist, which it wasn’t.”

“Does it feel weird?” asked Blaise.

“So far, the only side effect is that it’s always cold,” she replied offhandedly.

Daphne leaned forward to get a better look. “Is that why you left early at the end of last term?”

Lian nodded. “I had to undergo an adjustment period, but it works just as well as a normal arm.”

“Even if it didn’t, that would hardly slow you down,” said Theo from where he lingered in the doorway, before finally moving inside to sit beside Daphne across from her. “Pretty sure you could have a stump and still be twice as threatening as the average witch.”

“Gee, thanks,” Lian smiled easily at him, adjusting her sleeve to its usual length. They hatted lightly for the next hour, until Pansy and Draco made an entrance. Pansy squealed in delight to see Lian, before claiming the seat beside Theo, sandwiching him in place. Draco gave her a nod of greeting, before reaching into his bag and withdrew two thick, leather bound books and handed them over. Lian accepted them with an approving expression. “Do you want the third?”

“If you wouldn’t mind,” he said casually, though his eyes burned with desire. She smiled and stood to reach into her own bag, while stowing the leather bound volumes away inside.

“What did you think about his main thesis in Secrets of Excalibur?” she asked, finally locating the book and handing it over.

“Flawed, when compared to a few of the more recent theories written in the last few decades,” Draco replied, thumbing through Lupus est Natus, et Veneficus. “Not terribly surprising, considering he was born in the 6th century.”

“Have you perhaps considered that the more recent theorists are the ones who are flawed, as Merlin himself was known to have passed through time whether by sight or presence?” Lian asked, speaking quickly but clearly.

Draco tilted his head, looking at her curiously. “Where’s the proof of that?”

“Page sixty-three, fifth paragraph from the top.”

The door slid open once again, revealing a scared looking third year. He stuttered for a few seconds before giving up and shoving a piece of paper at Blaise and running back out. “What the-” he grunted, glaring down his nose at the neat cursive.

“What is it?” Pansy demanded, grateful for something she could understand-she’d developed a slack-jaw watching Draco and Lian talk. However, that had been a far better sight than the scowl on Theo’s face. “Fan mail?”

“Not quite,” Blaise grunted, showing the note to Lian who had been peeking over his shoulder. “Anyone know who Professor Slughorn is?”

“The name sounds familiar,” said Draco, sitting beside him and leaning forward to get a look as well. “He’s probably the new teacher-someone had to replace Umbridge.”

Lian winced at the sound of that woman’s name. “Too soon, guys.”

“Right. Well apparently I’m to have lunch with the new teacher.” Blaise declared, straightening his tie. “Ciao.”

He got to his feet and stalked out of the compartment, nose so high in the air Lian was surprised it didn’t drag along the ceiling. Draco rolled his eyes and opened the book he’d newly acquired, while Pansy began to gossip loudly with Daphne. Theo, who was still trapped between them, looked very uncomfortable until Lian caught his eye and gestured to Zabini’s vacated seat. He darted forward gratefully, just as the girls reached the toxic topic of boys.

“SHUT UP!” Pansy cried, scooting closer to Daphne on the seat in Theo’s absence, the latter’s face turning a shade of bright pink. “You wrote him all summer!?!!” Daphne mumbled something in reply, a noise immediately drowned by the next blast firing from Pansy’s mouth. “I don’t care WHO started it, I want to know who FINISHED it!”

Draco and Theo looked momentarily baffled until Lian filled them in with a single word. “Jason.” She watched in mild amusement as Pansy drained every last bit of information out of Daphne that she was willing to surrender. By the time she’d finished, Daphne was all out of sorts, the rest of them had eaten lunch, and Zabini returned from his special time with the new teacher.

Upon entrance he tripped over his own shoe and fell into Goyle’s lap. The two erupted into snarls and shouts at each other before Goyle finally managed to throw him off.

“That was exciting,” Lian muttered to Theo, who grinned.

“So, Zabini,” said Draco, “what did Slughorn want?”

“Just trying to make up to well-connected people,” said Blaise, while still glowering at Goyle. “Not that he managed to find many.”

Draco frowned, placing a marker on the page he’d been studying before Blaise’s spectacular entrance. “Who else had he invited?”

“McLaggen from Gryffindor,” said Blaise.

“Oh yeah, his uncle’s big in the Ministry,” said Draco.

“-someone else called Belby, from Ravenclaw-”

“Not him, he’s a prat!” said Pansy.

“-and Longbottom, Potter, and that Weasley girl,” finished Blaise.

Draco straightened up in his seat. “He invited Longbottom?”

“Well I assume so, as Longbottom was there,” said Blaise indifferently.

“What’s Longbottom got to interest Slughorn?”

Blaise shrugged.

“Potter, precious Potter, obviously he wanted a look at ‘ the Chosen One,’ ” sneered Draco, “but that Weasley girl! What’s so special about  her? ”

“Obviously you’ve never been on the receiving end of one of her hexes,” said Lian patiently, well aware that they were being unnecessarily rude about her friends. “She’s wicked incarnate.”

Pansy pointed at Lian nodding. “That, and a lot of boys like her. Even you think she’s good looking, don’t you, Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please!”

Blaise glanced in Lian’s direction before saying, “I don’t recall making any such remark; Gryffindors are hardly worth my attention anyway.” Then, switching his gaze over to Theo he added, “He asked me about your father when I first arrived. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard about what happened at the Ministry he didn’t look happy.”

“I wasn’t exactly tickled with the result either,” Theo retorted, and Lian could feel his body tense up beside her. He never once talked about his father, not throughout the entire summer or even during last year when he was still kicking. She’d always sensed they had a strained connection but it wasn’t her business so she prevented herself from prying.

“I didn’t mean-” Blaise began, but hesitated when he didn’t know how to proceed.

“How was your summer, Pansy?” Lian asked, decidedly changing the subject. Both Theo and Blaise visibly defused as Pansy perked up and began to chat away. Nearly an hour later she took a rest, but by then Blaise had fallen asleep on Crabbe, Draco had returned to his reading, while Lian was doing a remarkable impression of paying attention.

“Well, I already know about Daphne’s summer,” Pansy declared with a sly smile at her friend, who began to blush all over again. “What about yours, Lian?”

“Well other than catching up on my Alchemy studies, I picked up a job at the studio I trained at when I was about four, and-”

“A job?” Pansy repeated in disgust. “Studies? Glory, what do you do for fun?”

Without even blinking Lian replied, “I got to teach my little brother the proper rules of Quidditch, Jason and I signed up for a kickboxing class together, Matt and I had movie nights on Friday and about a month ago I went to an Ilvermorny class reunion. Got to see all my friends, frenemies and the like.”

Daphne raised her stature a little. “Jason told me about that,” she tactfully ignored Pansy’s loud ‘Ooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhh!’ and continued, “he said you all like to sing or something?”

Not the worst thing he could’ve said, Lian thought. “Yeah, that’s one way to look at it.”

The ash blonde quirked a single eyebrow. “He also mentioned you being in the arms of some boy all night,” she paused as Lian’s expression switched from relaxed to deadly.

“A BOY!?” Pansy shrieked in glee. “YES! TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!”

“It’s not important!” she insisted. “It’s not like any of you are ever going to meet him!”

“Oh come on,” Pansy whined, oblivious to Lian’s discomfort and Theo’s discontent. That or she was excellent at not caring. “Let me live vicariously through you!”

“Vicariously?” Lian repeated. “Get your own love life and leave me be.”

“HA! So you admit it’s a love life!”

Lian sighed heavily and turned toward the window, watching the highlands roll past as dusk settled in. She knew if she just ignored Pansy long enough she’d drop the subject; and the sooner she was at Hogwarts, the sooner she could forget about silly things like love.

Or so she thought…

\--

* * *

Their arrival and transportation to the castle passed in a blur, as if one moment Lian was sitting on the soft, cushioned seats of the Hogwarts Express, and the next she was slouching on a bench at the Slytherin table. Glancing around she again spotted people she’d met and gotten to know last year; over at the Ravenclaw table she spotted Luna Lovegood chatting with a boy in her house. At the Gryffindor table she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione staring up at the staff table with happy, but perplexed expressions. Ginny was sitting with Dean and Seamus, Dean’s arm was around her waist in a relaxed but obvious manner. At the Hufflepuff table she spotted Zacharias Smith sitting with Ernie Macmillan and Hannah Abbott, and a ways down from them she saw her 2nd cousin, Rolf. He caught her eye and waved shyly.

Everyone was settling in and she had just turned expectantly to the staff table, hoping they could get started with dinner when she spotted a moldy, old hat perched upon a stool. Oh no, I forgot about that freaky hat! She grimaced just as the double doors opened and Professor McGonagall led the first years up the hall. Stupid singing hat, why can’t they just skip to the good part? Food. That’s what we all- She was so busy thinking about how hungry she was, she barely noticed when several people gasped loudly, but she did notice when Pansy began jabbing her incessantly in the side. “Ow, what!” she hissed, smacking the offending hand away. Pansy pointed at the line of first years just as the hat burst into its raucous song.

“Who’s that!?” she demanded.

Lian’s gaze followed the direction of her finger, words already falling from her lips. “How should I know? I haven’t met an eleven year old in-” she stopped talking when her eyes found who Pansy was pointing at-who almost everyone was staring at. He wasn’t hard to miss, standing head, shoulders and torso over the fresh batch of first years. Lian couldn’t even pretend she didn’t know his identity, as he was staring directly back at her. When their eyes met, brown to hazel, he winked.

I’m gonna kill him.

After the Sorting Hat finished his song, (something about how being united was the only way to prevail against evil blah blah blah,) the sorting began without any preamble, no explanation for his presence whatsoever. Lian wanted nothing more than to ignore him but she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Why is he here? Why didn’t he say something!? He had to have been planning this for quite some time-he’d probably already received an acceptance letter by the time they saw each other in August. She couldn’t fathom was Dumbledore had been thinking by allowing him to transfer here; if anything having her at school should have apprised him to the fact that transfer students were a very, very bad idea indeed.

Maybe it’s not him, she thought hopefully, maybe it’s his evil twin. Maybe- “Quince, Adam,” called McGonagall, and all six-foot-seven-inches stepped up to place the hat on his own head. Dangit.

\---

* * *

As the hat rested on his head, Adam imagined a shower of dust falling from its brim. It was so ancient it almost made him forget that it had been singing not five minutes previously. When it began speaking in his mind, rather than being surprised, he accepted it; at least it wasn’t speaking in limericks.

Hmph. Another North American...demanding for a House when you have a perfectly good one back home...a wealth of knowledge, determination...you’ve a noble and strong heart...there’s empathy, somewhere deep down...strength, there’s more than enough...the place you belong is “HUFFLEPUFF!” the hat roared aloud for the entire hosts to hear.

Adam handed the hat to the cranky-looking witch and walked towards the table under the yellow banner. How convenient that it was right beside the table were Lian sat, completely stunned and wide eyed. He sat with his back facing her, enjoying the sensation of her gaze burning holes in the back of his neck.

“Quince, is it?” a boy with dirty blond hair spoke to him from across the table. “You American?”

“Canadian, actually,” he answered with a shrug. “Easy mistake.”

“Are you affiliated with Kowalski?” asked another boy with a resting-snitch-face.

“Affiliated is an interesting term, and not the one I’d use just yet, but we are very much aware of one another,” he replied, resisting the urge to laugh. Who talks like that?

“How many Americans should we be expecting next year?” asked the girl sitting between the two boys. She had a plain face, bright eyes and small chin.

“At this rate, probably ten,” Adam replied as the last little first year became a Gryffindor.

Moments later the golden plates suddenly filled with mountains of delicious food and the welcoming feast began. Adam ate with a gusto, he’d practically slept the entire trip here and was absolutely ravenous. He listened more than talked, and learned that the people sitting across from him were called Ernie, Hannah and Zacharias, respectively.

He was just about to start on his third serving when a metal hand snatched the back of his collar and yanked him back. He tilted his head back until he found an upside-down vision of his Lian, who was glowering at him from the Slytherin bench. Grinning, he sat up and turned on the bench with some difficulty. (These attached seats were not built for someone with long limbs like his.) “Hello m’darlin,” he said cheerfully in the face of his doom.

“What in the name of Morrigan do you think you’re doing here!?” she hissed, not quite enough to carry across the hall but enough to land harshly on his ears.

“As the authority on all thoughts,” he replied, “shouldn’t you already know the answer?”

“Adam!” Lian was looking at him with such a mixture of emotion he genuinely couldn’t tell if she was happy, furious, confused or upset by his presence. “You could’ve at least warned me!”

He gave her his best puppy eyes. “But that would’ve ruined the surprise.”

“I hate surprises!”

“Only when you’re on the receiving end, which let’s face it is a little unfair to the rest of humanity. Remember what we did in 4th year-”

“I remember! I was there!” She glanced towards the staff table and then back at him. “I will yell at you later.”

He winked. “I look forward to it.”

Turning back to the food, he was only slightly disappointed to see that it was all gone, and the old wizard sitting in the throne-like chair at the staff table had risen to address the entire hall.

“The very best of evenings to you!” he said, smiling broadly, his arms opened wide as though to embrace the whole room. “To our new students, welcome, to our old students, welcome back! And I believe you’ve all noticed the newest addition to our transfer program, Mr. Adam Quince, who will be joining the sixth year class. I hope you all will do your best to help him feel welcome. Another year full of magical education awaits you…”

Adam was vaguely aware of the amount of attention that had zeroed in on his position. A lot of people from the next House over, the one under the red banner, had turned in their seats to stare openly at him. Next was the house immediately behind him, but rather than eyes, Adam heard soft whispers as questions about him swirled back and forth. Lian didn’t contribute, he could always recognize her voice no matter what volume it was in and he never heard her.

“...and Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to say that there is a blanket ban on any joke items bought at the shop called Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual. We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should do likewise. We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year, Professor Slughorn-” a round man stood up, his head bald and shiny as dawn’s first light. “-is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master.”

“Potions?”

“Potions?” The word echoed all over the Hall. A quick glance round told Adam that many people did not believe that they’d heard the headmaster correctly.

“And there is a new development with our Defense Against the Dark Arts position. We should like to welcome back Professor Lupin, who will be taking over the first through fourth year classes, while Professor Snape will be taking over the edification of the fifth through seventh years.”

Confused cheers and applause followed this announcement, geared toward two teachers up at the staff table. One of them was rather shabbily put together and the other was in desperate need of a shower. The smell of grease almost covered the other scent that could give Adam a reason to be disgusted; either way, he wrinkled his nose.

“I can’t believe they let him come back!” Ernie gasped. “I mean, he’s a brilliant teacher but what about his condition? It’s not like it can be cured overnight.”

“Likely under the circumstances, Dumbledore wanted us to receive the best preparation we could-” Zacharias replied. “Snape’s wanted the job for years, meanwhile Lupin really knows his stuff. Hard call to make, really. Wish we’d gotten Lupin though-Snape’s a right pain in the-”

“But what if he loses control and attacks a student?” Hannah asked.

“What do you mean, loses control?” Adam said, frowning slightly.

The three of them looked across at him. “He was a teacher in our third year; but he left at the end because it got our that he was a werewolf,” explained Zacharias.

Adam raised his eyebrows. “And?”

They looked at him as though afraid he was touched in the head. “A werewolf,” Ernie repeated loudly. “Changes on the full moon, craves human blood, grows a tail and fangs?”

Adam decided to overlook the offensive overtones and said, “No, I grasped the concept, but what’s wrong with him being a werewolf? You-” he gestured at Zacharias “-just said he ‘really knows his stuff’, so if he’s such a good teacher why would him being a werewolf matter?”

“Because he’s dangerous!” Hannah answered shrilly.

“Do you think I’m dangerous?” Adam asked.

Ernie blinked. “Well, considering you just stared Lian Kowalski in the eye and referred to her as ‘darling’, I’m inclined to say yes.”

Adam chuckled good-naturedly as Dumbledore brought the focus back on himself. “Now, as everybody in this hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining in strength. I cannot empathize strongly how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle’s magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose upon you, however irksome you might find them-in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and other’s safety. . . But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip!”

Adam got to his feet and watched for a moment as everyone headed towards the double doors in long throngs of black-robed groups. Before he could take a single step to follow, Lian was at his side and had grabbed the front of his robes, dragging him along behind her. Through the double doors, where the sea of students split into three different directions, and into an abandoned classroom off the first floor.

He bit his lip as she released his robes to shut the door. “Cozy.” As she turned back to get her yell on, she was momentarily impeded by him pulling her into a tight hug. “I know you’re angry with me,” he said softly, in an effort to try and keep the yelling at bay. “But can I please explain my side before you jump to any and every conclusion?”

She stubbornly remained tense in his arms, muttering, “Too late,” but made no attempt to get away from him, so he figured he had been given one chance.

“Do you remember what I told you at the start of fifth year?” he began, mostly because he wanted to be sure she had some idea of what was going to happen.

“You said we were meant for one another or something,” she replied brusquely, trying to sound as detached as possible. “That werewolves believe in soulmates and I was it as far as you were concerned.”

“Do you remember anything else?” he asked, because he remembered being very clear on the matter.

“As time progressed you’d feel a stronger need to be near me, to protect and fight for me, and if I ignored your advances that it would be like writing your death sentence. Which-” she added before he could press the issue “-is all in your own head, and even if it isn’t that’s a lot of pressure to put on a fifteen year old girl!”

“You were, you are my best friend; you know better than anyone that I wouldn’t lie about this.”

“So that’s why you’re here?” Lian asked flatly. “Because your wolf couldn’t stand to be without me?”

“Honey, if he was in charge all the time, I’d understand your aversion, but it’s just me. We can be just like we were at Ilvermorny, all I ask is that you don’t shut me out like you did last year.” He watched as she seemed to deflate a little in his embrace and added, “Please…”

She raised her eyes to latch onto his, raising her left hand slowly. He closed his eyes, expecting her to slap him, (it wouldn’t be the first time) but shivered when she only rested it against his face. Maybe it was some fancy Legilimency technique where she got direct access to his inner thoughts and feelings. “It didn’t work…” he thought he heard her murmur.

“What?”

She withdrew her hand, he opened his eyes, and she was clearing her throat. “Ahem, nothing.” He tilted his head to try and catch her eye but she shook her head. “N-nothing just um, I was really prepared to be furious with you and I don’t think I can summon that mindset after all that.”

Adam let her go, grinning slightly. “Oh I can help with that. I told all of Pufflehuff house that you’re my girlfriend.”

Lian yelped. “You WHAT!”

He chuckled. “Just kidding. I in fact said we were married-” he broke off as she began to yell at him in earnest, smiling broadly.

She’d been in his head just now, she knew he hadn’t done anything of the kind. But she took the chance to yell at him anyway...just like old times.

\-----

* * *

He slept like the dead, and would have missed breakfast if Justin Finch-Fletchley hadn’t woken him. “Mate, anyone ever tell you that you sort of growl in your sleep?”

Adam yawned. “Yes, thank you, I’m very much aware.”

“We’re leaving in ten minutes for breakfast, in case you wanted to join us,” he offered, before retreating to his side of the dormitory. Adam uncurled his body, stretching out his arms and legs-he’d normally sleep in a ball when in a new bed, new environment. Once he grew accustomed to the dorm he’d revert to normal, but until then-

“Was that your elbow?” Ernie winced as a loud pop sounded from Adam’s bed.

“No, that was my knee; this is my elbow,” he hid a smile as the other boy shuddered.

“When you’ve finished snapping your bones in half,” began Zacharias from where he stood fixing his hair. “You might consider getting dressed.”

Adam glanced down at his old gray t-shirt and flannel pants. “You mean, I shouldn’t go to class looking like this?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it, no,” Ernie replied, not picking up on his sarcasm.

Adam changed quickly, and ran a hand through his hair to calm the argument his locks were having with one another. It took quite a few run throughs and after a minute of watching him wrestle with a cowlick, Justin offered him a comb. “Won’t do any good but thanks all the same,” Adam replied. “Ralph never goes easy on me.”

That made all three of them pause. It was Zacharias who braved the question, “Er, who’s Ralph?”

Adam moved to the mirror to see if he’d missed a spot, slightly invading Zach’s personal bubble but didn’t care. “Oh you know, the No-Majs have a list of reasons why things happen to avoid the belief of magic and Ralph’s just one of the more ridiculous notions…”

Justin cleared his throat. “What, like Santa Claus?”

“Yeah. They have the Sandman and the Tooth Fairy...and Ralph the Night-Hairdresser.”

Ernie and Zach continued to look perplexed but Justin snorted with laughter. I’ve always liked muggleborns, Adam reflected quietly.

The Great Hall was filled with people by the time they walked in as a group. Adam spotted Lian at the Slytherin table, chatting with the Skinny Brit from before. Around them a tightly-knit group was seated, and she fit right in. How does she do it? He wondered, just loudly enough to give her a few seconds warning.

Sure enough, as he stepped up behind her he heard, “-and to be honest I’ll have to get back to you on that later, I’m about to be kidnapped.”

To which Skinny Brit squinted, “What?”

Lian raised her arms up as if to shrug, but really she was giving him space to act. Adam slid his hands under her arms and hoisted her up as easily as if she were a kitten, taking her to the Hufflepuff table with him. “Good morning to you too, Adam,” she said, sounding bored.

Finding enough space for the both of them, he set her down and straddled the bench, watching as she reached nonchalantly for the pumpkin juice. “How’d you sleep?”

“Remarkably well. Nothing lulls me to sleep like a good scolding,” she replied, serving him more than enough sausage and eggs. “Particularly when I’m the one giving it,” she added conversationally.

He nodded. “Yes, of the many times you’ve told me off I think last night was your best.”

She gave him a sideways look. “Really?”

“No, you were spewing nonsense around your third breath,” he admitted, before shovelling food into his mouth.

“I know but if anything I relieved myself of a lot of stress. And-” she gestured between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin table. “-maybe in the future you could wait for me to come to you organically?”

Adam gave her a look. “Would you?”

“I might,” she said, her voice at a slightly higher pitch than usual. She cleared her throat and repeated in a normal tone, “You never know.”

“Uh huh.” He reached down and tickled her side, causing her to shriek. Several people’s heads turned in their direction, but all they saw was Lian glaring at him as he continued to eat. It’s gonna be a good year.


	7. Monkshood

“Everything appears to be in order,” said Professor Snape, finally handing over her schedule. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of her face for the entire time he’d been ‘surveying’ her classes, and Lian had the distinct impression he was trying to enter her mind. Maybe he was curious as to how and what she’d taught Draco and Theo, it being his idea they train with her in the first place.

He moved on without any kind of comment, but Lian could tell he was disconcerted. Possibly because she was still seated beside Adam at the Hufflepuff table. Adam looked at her schedule and grunted. “Why aren’t you taking Ancient Runes?”

She gave him a skeptical look. “Why are you taking Ancient Runes?”

He rolled his eyes. “Have you heard of my dad? It is a basic requirement that his children take his favorite subject and excel.”

Lian scoffed. “I think that goes for every subject in your family, not just the favorites.”

“Yeah, but that’s my mom’s requirement, which is totally different.”

“I think Nott is taking Ancient Runes,” said Lian. “You can sit with him… Oh you look so happy to hear that. You’re a big boy, you’ll be fine.” She grunted as he plopped his head down on her shoulder.

“You’ve a free period now, just come shadow the class. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it.”

Lian shook her head. “Nope. I’ve got something to do, anyway. I’ll see you in Defense, though.” Standing up from the bench and ruffling his hair in farewell, she marched out of the hall and after a certain pair of Gryffindors who were headed for their common room. “Harry! Ron!”

The two stopped about halfway up an enchanted stair, allowing her to catch up right before it moved. “How were your summers?” she asked as they grabbed onto the stone banister for balance, while she merely swayed with the motion.

Ron shrugged. “It was alright. Not as good as Harry’s.”

“It was brilliant,” Harry agreed, smiling broadly. “Sirius was cleared of all charges and allowed to walk free, and I was finally allowed to move in with him. We went travelling for a bit.”

Lian nodded politely, only aware of his previous living situation because of the few times she helped him with his Occlumency last year. Work which in the end didn’t matter. “That’s awesome! Mine was kinda boring, but I had a question for you guys: are you going to start up Dumbledore’s Army again?”

Harry’s smile faded a little. “Well, there’s not really a need for it now, seeing as Umbridge isn’t trying to restrict us or prevent us from learning defensive magic period.”

Ron cleared his throat. “Although, with Snape finally in charge, we might need all the extra studying we could get…”

“Professor Snape,” Lian coughed.

The idea of sticking it to Snape made Harry’s eyes light up. “True…”

She raised her eyebrows and prompted, “So?”

Harry shrugged. “It’s something to think about. Let’s just see how this first week goes and if there’s a time that could work, or if it’s even necessary-”

Lian punched the air. “I’m gonna take that as a maybe! See you guys in Defense!” She turned and practically skipped down onto the third corridor, took a left and down a secret passageway that took her to the library. She wanted to find some books on Time-Turners before her first lesson of the day…

But it wasn’t long before she discovered that the subject of Time-Turners was well kept in the Restricted section, and thus only retrievable by the librarian, Madam Pince. (Technically, she could sneak in and try not to get caught, but she really didn’t want to risk a detention so soon.) As she mentally counted off teachers who were likely to sign a permission form for her without asking too many questions, she didn’t notice as someone walked up behind her.

“Hey Kowalski,” Lian turned to see Neville Longbottom, who was giving her a look of caution. “What are you up to?”

Confused by his manner initially, Lian quickly realized that in his eyes she was on Team Umbridge and the very idea made her want to hit herself in the face with a frying pan. “Just trying to get a jump on homework, which is kind of stupid, I guess, considering I haven’t had my first class yet.” she laughed sheepishly. “What brings you to the library?”

He relaxed a little and showed her the books he was holding: Rare Assyrian Plantlife, and Malfunctioning Magic: How to Right What’s Wrong. Lian reached for the latter, her eyebrows knitting themselves together. Neville cleared his throat and explained, “It’s been five years and I can never seem to perform magic properly. Sometimes I think maybe it’s because I don’t have enough magic…”

Lian’s eyes snapped onto his, immediately knowing what he was implying. “You’re not a squib, Neville.” She ignored the look of alarm in his eyes as she addressed him by his first name-she couldn’t take any conversation seriously if she called him Longbottom. 

“How can you be sure?’ he asked weakly.

“My dad’s one,” she said with a shrug. “And for the better part of my first year I thought I was one as well,” she remembered feeling continually frustrated because she had known the material, had done all the studies, but she could never produce a spell despite how much she waved, flicked and jabbed her wand.

“But you’re an excellent witch,” Neville pointed out. “I can’t imagine you ever struggling with a spell.”

“Well it happened,” she stated. “Believe me, some of the teachers considered sending me home if I didn’t improve or show some sign that I had enough magic in me.”

Neville’s eyes widened. “Seriously? What did you do?”

Lian remembered the assignment her aunt had given her, as a kind of proving ground, but she felt that wasn’t quite as relevant. However, what had really turned her life around was learning…

“Neville,” she began suddenly. “Tell me about your wand.”

He seemed a little unnerved by her change of topic but withdrew his wand and held it out for her to see. “Acacia wood, phoenix feather core, 12 ¼ inches.” He added after a heartbeat, “It was my Dad’s.”

Lian’s mouth twitched. “I won’t overstep my boundaries but I think I know what’s wrong.”

“You mean it?” Neville asked excitedly. “How??”

“Well...at Ilvermorny, one of the advanced classes was a history of Wandlore, and it was taught by one of the best wandmakers in America, called Shikoba Wolfe. This-” she took out her own wand to show it to him “-is an original Wolfe, one of the last he made before he retired to be a teacher. When I couldn’t produce any spells except in select moments, I thought I was more Squib than witch but it was Professor Wolfe who taught me what was really going on: my wand is made of Pine wood, with a thunderbird tail feather core. Pine wands tend to choose masters who are perceived as independent, intriguing and mysterious,” she flashed a cheeky grin at the Gryffindor boy before continuing, “it’s also the most sensitive to non-verbal magic. But the clincher was the core: thunderbird feather cores tend to make an especially powerful wand-that’s not hubris I’m quoting the wandmaker. Powerful yes, but difficult to master, and good for transfiguration work. What it came down to was that my wand wasn’t working as I hoped because I wasn’t working the way it needed me to.” she paused to gage his understanding.

“What does that have to do with my wand?” he asked after a little while.

“Well, a phoenix feather core is powerful, yes, but it tends to take a little while to reveal that side of it,” Lian spouted off, remembering much of her wandlore essays. “Acacia wood is rare, and always produces a wand that often refuses to produce magic for anyone other than their owner.” She grimaced at him. “And you just told me that this wand belonged to your father. He mightn’t be capable of using it anymore, but that wand is still bound to him. Neville,” she tapped his father’s wand. “You need to get a wand that chooses you.”

He stared at her, his mind buffering all the information until… “You talk about wands like they can think for themselves.”

Lian laughed, having said the very same thing to Professor Wolfe when he broke it down for her. “Why not? You’ve seen paintings with a conscious, bludgers with attitude, and tricky staircases that enjoy throwing students off pace. That’s all possible because of magic, so why can’t the very thing that allows us to control and conjure magic have a thought process of its own?” Her wand vibrated in her hand, making Neville jump. “See?”

“No one…” he cleared his throat. “No one ever told me…”

She placed a hand on his arm. “That’s because very few people know.”

\--

* * *

Professor Babbling greeted him as he walked into the small classroom, and he saw only three other students there: a boy from Ravenclaw, a girl with thick brown hair from Gryffindor, and Skinny Brit. He sat down with the latter, smiling cheerfully. “Good to see you again,” he said as he took out a self-inking quill and his runes textbook.

“It’s certainly a surprise,” Skinny replied, eying him skeptically. “You didn’t strike me as the transferring type.”

Adam chuckled. “You didn’t strike me as the type that could be surprised,” he added “intimidated, perhaps, but not surprised.”

“Then I suppose we both misread one another,” he grunted.

“Did we?” Adam gave Skinny a knowing look, before turning to look at the other two occupants. Extending his arm he shook their hands. “Adam Quince, pleasure to meet you.”

The girl blinked and tilted her head. “I’m Hermione Granger. You made quite an entrance last night…”

“And this morning,” the boy added. “Anthony Goldstein. Is Kowalski your girlfriend?”

Skinny Brit stiffened in his seat, as Adam smiled innocently. “Why do you ask?”

Anthony gave him an expectant stare. “Well, you don’t normally go swinging people around back home, do you?” Adam’s expression didn’t change so he added in a more serious tone, “Do you?”

Resting an elbow on the desk, Adam said, “I’m the EIGHTH of ten children: what do you think?”

“Alright!” Professor Babbling called for their attention by tapping his wand against the blackboard. “We’ve lost quite a few of our number but in here, only the strong of mind survive! We shall begin with a quiz to see how much you all remember, and what we may need to go over yet again before getting into the real work. I know you’ve no warning, but the point is that you’ve absorbed the correct information, rather than useless facts. It’s only fifty questions, so begin when you receive it.”

He handed out a stack of papers that they divvied up between them. Adam watched Hermione fret silently over the ‘sudden and life-altering’ challenge she was faced with, while Anthony merely inked his quill and began with a soft sigh. Adam followed suit, translating the runes and inscribing some of the others. At some point he was required to copy out a message entirely using runes to the best of his ability.

Forty minutes later, he turned the packet over, set his quill down and rubbed at his eyes. He received hateful glances from the other three, who were still working quietly. Professor Babbling summoned his quiz sheet and began combing over it then and there, sending Hermione into a further haze of stress. When Adam was certain the teacher wasn’t looking, he glanced over at her paper and saw that she was on the last few questions anyway. So long as she knew her ehwaz from her eihwaz, she’d be fine.

At length, she finished about a hairsbreadth before Skinny finished as well. Anthony took his sweet time, perhaps more concerned with the hippogriff he was doodling on the flip side of the quiz.

While Professor Babbling checked their work, Hermione turned to him with a serious but inquisitive vibe. “Quince-”

“Call me Adam,” he insisted before she could say another word.

“Oh, well then, Adam, where in America are you from?”

“I’m actually Canadian,” Adam expected this; afterall, a transfer from Ilvermorny could only be American in their collective minds. “Though technically I guess we live near Fairbanks, so…” At Hermione’s blank expression he added, “Which is in Alaska.”

She nodded, obviously having no idea where in North America ‘Alaska’ was located. Not surprising, hardly anyone from other countries knew American states beyond California and New York. “And erm, what was it about Hogwarts that was so appealing to you?”

Adam shook his head, grimacing. “Oh I’m not here for Hogwarts.”

Professor Babbling cleared his throat, ending the conversation there and ended class on a high note: by assigning a heavy load of homework (a fifteen-inch essay, two translations and ten chapters worth of reading by Wednesday.)

\--

* * *

“So, how was Ancient Snooze?” Lian asked cheekily as an enormous shadow loomed over her from behind. He, Theo, Hermione and Goldstein had arrived into the DADA classroom minutes after she’d arrived there with Daphne, Draco and Pansy.

“Too easy,” he replied with a scoff. “Tell me again what’s so appealing about this place?”

Thanks to Harry’s instructions and guidance the previous year, several sixth years returned to this class for the NEWT level, so the class was comprised of students from all four houses. The desks had been cleared away, apparently this first lesson was going to be very practical.

“I’m pretty sure I spent three years straight listing off reasons why Hogwarts was the school for me. The fact that you remember none of them says a lot about where your focus was during our friendship-”

“Oh I remember,” Adam said quickly. “But I’ve been here all of sixteen hours and I gotta say it doesn’t live up to the hype.”

“You have had one class!”

“And two meals.”

“Shh!” Daphne shot the two of them a warning look, pointing at Professor Snape who was already halfway through his welcoming speech. Though, perhaps ‘welcoming’ was not the correct term.

“...you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of nonverbal spells. What is the advantage of a nonverbal spell?” Hermione’s hand shot into the air. Snape took his time looking around at everybody else, and appeared both relieved and intrigued when another hand came up. “Mr. Quince, then?”

“The person you’re dueling against has no idea what kind of spell you’re about to throw their way.”

“Five points to Hufflepuff. Yes, those who progress to using magic without shouting incantations gain an element of surprise in their spell-casting. Not all wizards can do this, of course; it is a question of concentration and mind power which some” -his gaze lingered maliciously on Harry- “lack. You will be divided into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Ms. Kowalski, Mr. Quince,” he beckoned the two of them to the front, which they did so without a moment’s hesitation. Lian had rather been expecting this from the moment he began discussing nonverbal spells. “I believe you are well versed in nonverbal magic. I should like for the both of you to share with the rest of the class what a properly executed duel would look like.”

Oh joy.

Lian withdrew her wand, twirling it absently in her fingers, enjoying the way the action made Adam still, thinking she was going to use that spell. He withdrew his own wand, rowan if she remembered correctly, and cricked his neck on both sides, gazing at her evenly. It had been a while since their last duel...and a certain east wing of Ilvermorny was never going to forget it either.

It’s only a demonstration, Lian mouthed at Adam. Keep it simple.

To which is response was to mouth, You’re going down.

Rolling her eyes, Lian gathered her focus and took up a defensive position, knowing exactly how this was going to go. She didn’t have to look into Adam’s mind, his fighting style had always been powerful, but predictable. He’d strike swiftly, and she needed to be ready to react, redirect, and defend whatever he sent her way. The moment he raised his wand, she whipped up her own in a spiral motion. Buegoneguig! The three or four spells he’d shot at her in quick succession were sucked into the hole she’d conjured, vanishing for a second before they appeared, still shooting but this time back at Adam. Without blinking an eye he flicked his wand and the three spells collided, sending a shower of sparks over the class.

My turn, Lian seized the offensive, firing the first few jinxes that popped into her head. Adam conjured a shield of ice to cover his front, which was a neat trick that stood no chance against her heat spell. The wind strike that rode its steam landed on target, knocking her opponent back several paces. Before anyone could cheer or gasp in reaction, Adam was back on balance and he’d shot a magnetized spell at her arm.

Her prosthetic yanked her forward, pulled towards his wand and dragging her across the stone floor. Dropping to her knees mid-skid, Lian stabbed her wand into the stone, resulting in the space where Adam stood to rise up and shoot him towards the ceiling. With the magnet spell still in effect, Lian detached her arm and watched it rise after and smack him in the face.

Adam cast a spell that prevented him from slamming back down to the floor, and while he hovered in place, he shot her with a body-bind jinx. From where Lian had just re-risen to her feet, she fell flat, just in time to be crashed into by a six foot seven idiot.

“Enough!” Professor Snape called, releasing Lian from the jinx and telling the rest of the class to get to it.

“Keep it simple huh?” Adam said, helping her to her feet.

“Well, we didn’t break anything,” she replied innocently, before spotting the crack and rise in the stone floor. “For the most part.” Lapis reparo! 

“Using Alchemy in a duel,” Adam commented, shaking his head at her. “That’s ballsy.”

“Well I was studying it every morning for the entire summer. I think I’m more than a little caught up,” she replied smugly.

“No kidding...but I still know a few tricks you never learned.”

“Such as?”

Adam pointed across the room at Zacharias Smith, who was dueling with Susan Bones. His wand held loosely in his right, he raised his left hand and made a weird flexing gesture, or some kind of finger spasm. Smith’s wand spun out of his hand, as did Bones’, clattering on the floor a few steps away. The pair looked shocked and a bit exciting, believing they’d both managed to perform a nonverbal spell, when actually…

Lian slapped Adam’s arm down before anyone saw. “No way!” she whispered. “Professor Fontaine actually-?!”

“Only a few of the sixth years, and we weren’t supposed to talk, share or brag about it to anyone who wasn’t in the class, but yeah.” Adam whispered back, a cocky grin planted on his face. “It’s harder than it looks, though, took me three months to figure out the simplest of things.”

“Well, if your theory is to be believed, apparently it was a miracle you learned anything last year,” she said without thinking, but then she spotted his expression and regretted it. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, not my best year.”

Mine neither, she thought, remembering some of her worst moments from the year before.

Across the classroom, Snape had been sneering at the Gryffindors who’d been trying to achieve a nonverbal disarming spell, when- “Pathetic Weasley,” Lian turned with the rest of the class to watch as their teacher descended upon Harry and Ron, who’d been struggling in the corner. “Here-let me show you-”

He turned his wand on Harry so fast, it was all Harry could do to react, all thought of nonverbal spells out the window as he cried, “Protego!”

The shield charm was so strong Snape was knocked off-balance and hit a desk. The whole class watched as Snape righted himself, scowling. “Do you remember me telling you we are practicing  nonverbal spells, Potter?”

“Yes,” said Harry stiffly.

“Yes,  sir, ”

“There’s no need to call me ‘sir’, Professor.”

Several people gasped, Lian clapped a hand over her mouth to hide a giggle. Adam was nodding in appreciation, but both of them grimaced as Harry was given detention for the weekend.

“Isn’t he the one all over the papers?” Adam asked, his eyes on Harry.

“Yep. But he’s not anything like what they make him out to be, so don’t go all doe eyes on him.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “When have I ever drooled over a celebrity?”

Lian flashed him a knowing glance. “School field trip in ‘94 to the Quidditch match between the US and Japan: you nearly had a cow when Ralph Heidelberger crashed into our box after he got hit in the solar plexus with both bludgers.”

He took several minutes to recover from that one. “I...didn’t realize that was worth remembering,” he managed finally.

\--

* * *

When she spotted the look on Hagrid’s face as she approached his cabin after lunch, she wished for nothing more than an enormous handkerchief to dab at his eyes with--though if she wasn’t surprised she was the only sixth year to progress, why should he be? Instead of studying sphinxes, she spent the majority of the lesson comforting him in his cabin. She made him hot cocoa, fed his oversized boarhound a few biscuits that were either stale or actually rocks but he seemed to enjoy them very much. She was rather enraptured with the hippogriff he kept near the fireplace. He was a gorgeous dappled grey with large amber eyes that pierced her to the core.

After several cups of Uncle Anatoly’s cocoa, (which included liberal amounts of chocolate liqueur,) Hagrid began to whine about how much more he had to teach, and how he was so disappointed that his favorite students had quit on him. In that hour, Lian learned more about Ron, Harry and Hermione than she ever wanted to; about how they’d bested a troll and a three-headed dog in their first year, an entire hoard of acromantulas in their second, fought dementors, handled something called a bang-ended scoot (he began to slur at that point) and dragons in their fourth.

“An’ a’course you was here fer last year,” he groaned. “Where I got sacked by a pink toady woman.”

“Calling Umbridge a toad is an insult to toads,” Lian said. Hagrid took a moment to think about that before he tossed back his shaggy head and hooted with laughter. “Right. I’m going back up the castle now, I’ve got Double Potions next. Hagrid, look, this-” she slammed a new mug down in front of him to get his attention. “-this will snap you back to normal. My Uncle Anatoly never went anywhere without it, and I learned his recipe over the summer. I expect you’ve got gamekeeper duties to take care of this afternoon and we can’t have you melting in here all day.”

The boarhound stood and sniffed at her hand, hoping for another stale biscuit, but had to settle for the head scratch she gave him.

“Lian?” Hagrid croaked as she opened the door. “. . .Thanks.”

She nodded. “I’ll be here on Wednesday, same time. Be ready with a good lesson, okay?”

By the time she’d reached the dungeons, Professor Slughorn had already invited them inside, rather than making them wait in the cold corridor. Very few passed Snape’s requirements for the potion OWL, and even fewer dared to return. She spotted Blaise, Draco and Theo hovering near a desk in the front, meanwhile four Ravenclaws had claimed the desk nearest the ingredients cabinet.

Typical, she thought as she moved to sit by Draco. It was then that she noticed that there were loads of potions already simmering and placed strategically all throughout the classroom. Right beside the Ravenclaw desk was a cauldron full of a greyish, mud-like substance Lian recognized as Polyjuice Potion. The one closest to the Slytherin table resembled clear water, but Lian knew better. She’d only drank Veritaserum last year to convince Theodore Nott to trust her. The empty desk behind them had a cauldron that smelled like freshly baked snickerdoodles, the city air immediately after a rainstorm, and… Lian realized with a jolt what that potion had to be and directed her attention to the little cauldron set on the teacher’s desk. Golden droplets would spring up every now and then, before splashing back down, like some kind of miniature, liquified dolphin.

By the time the teacher himself turned up, so had the remaining five members of the class. The Gryffindor triplet, Ernie Macmillan and Adam. As Ernie settled his things on the desk behind her with Adam, it clicked in Lian’s head how segregated the seating arrangements were turning out to be, and she decided she didn’t like it. Grabbing her textbook and scales she moved to sit with the Hufflepuffs. Ernie looked a little wary of her but Adam smiled. Thankfully, he didn’t have some witty remark to go along with it, otherwise she might’ve changed seats again.

“Now then, now then,” said Slughorn, whose massive outline was quivering through the many shimmering vapors. “Scales out, everyone, and potions kits, and don’t forget your copies of  Advanced Potion-Making…”

“Sir?” said Harry, raising his hand.

“Harry, m’boy?”

“I haven’t got a book or scales or anything-nor’s Ron-we didn’t realize we’d be able to do the NEWT, you see-”

“Ah yes, Professor McGonagall did mention…”

Seated across from her, through the charismatic spirals rising from the Amortentia, Adam scoffed.

Catching his eye, Lian mouthed, What?

He stared hard at her, which gave her to know that he was thinking at her. He was weird and open like that; mostly when people found out she was a Legilimens they were uncomfortable with the idea of her seeing inside their heads: Example A being Draco Malfoy, B being Theodore Nott. But Adam used it like a private messaging system. It was like reverse Occlumency.

I just can’t help but think of that project we all did back in our fifth year every time he talks, or someone looks at him like he walks on water. And seeing him in the flesh and realizing he doesn’t quite live up to all the gossip and rumors and now they’re calling him the Chosen One? It’s all just a bit irritating. Just because something way out of his control happened, he gets special treatment.

Lian closed her eyes and bowed her head. She knew all too well why any and all of that would frustrate her friend. Afterall, she’d been the first in their year at Ilvermorny to figure out what he was, and the first to not care or treat him differently because of it. As she watched Slughorn hand Harry and Ron a pair of tattered scales and give them instructions as to where some old copies of the textbook were lying around, she thought about all the times someone would try and bully Adam or one of his brothers, simply because they were werewolves. Once, during her last year at Ilvermorny, she’d caught a couple of her own house ganging up on Leonard, who was Jake’s best friend at school. Sending a tempest jinx on a couple of Thunderbirds’ might’ve been a bit on the nose, but they were asking for it.

She opened her textbook, and noticed that Adam’s book was covered in scribbles already. “Notes from your summer review, Quince?”

“It’s my older brother’s copy,” he explained with a shrug.

“Which one?”

“All of them. They’ve all used it, passing it down and now it’s mine. See this part-” He pointed to a small novel inscribed in the margins of chapter six. “-Gunner was obsessed with the Polyjuice Potion when he was my age. He figured out a few shortcuts to making it, how to make its effects last longer than an hour, and such.”

Lian leaned forward to get a better look, while her brain tried to match a face with the name. “Gunner...wait, wasn’t he arrested two years ago?”

“Yeah well, manipulating that kind of potion without a permit is kind of illegal,” Adam replied with a grin.

“ Now then,” said Slughorn, returning to the front of the class and inflating his already bulging chest so that the buttons on his waistcoat threatened to burst off.  Fifty points if they land in one of the cauldrons.  “I’ve prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest, you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your NEWTs. You ought to have heard of ‘em, even if you haven’t made ‘em yet. Anyone tell me what this one is?”

Adam’s hand rose to his shoulder level, still higher than Hermione’s well-practiced hand behind him. Their hands were also joined by Theo at the front. Slughorn nodded at him.

“It’s Veritaserum; an undetectable liquid that forces the drinker to tell the truth,” Theo answered, before glancing back at Lian with a shadow of a grin.

“Very good, very good!” said Slughorn happily. “Now,” he continued, pointing at the cauldron nearest the Ravenclaw table, “this one here is pretty well known… Featured in a few Ministry leaflets too… Who can-?”

Hermione’s hand might have been first, but Adam answered without permission. “That’s Polyjuice Potion, sir,” he said.

“Excellent, excellent! Now, this one here...yes?” Slughorn nodded at Lian, who had raised her hand in front of Hermione’s.

“It’s called Amortentia,” she said innocently. “It’s allegedly the most powerful love potion in the world.”

Slughorn’s eyebrows furrowed at her answer. “What makes you say that, m’dear?”

“It’s impossible to manufacture pure love, what the potion actually does is create a powerful infatuation or obsession, which can lead to dangerous or even deadly results depending on the potency.” Lian shrugged, ignoring the way the room had gone oddly quiet at her statement. Slughorn on the other hand looked delighted.

He even wagged a finger at her. “Someone’s been doing their summer reading! I wonder, what are some of the ways you were able to recognize it?”

“The way the steam rises is your first clue, the distinctive sheen of the surface and also the way it smells is different to each individual, according to what attracts them.”

“What do you smell?” Adam asked cheekily.

“Monkshood,” she replied without missing a beat. Only Adam laughed, the rest of the class looked at her like she was a lunatic.

“Well done, then,” Slughorn said, in an attempt to claim everyone’s attentions again. “Ten points to Slytherin, five to Hufflepuff. Now, it is time for us to start work.”

“Sir, you haven’t told us what’s in this one,” said Ernie Macmillan, pointing at the cauldron that had captured Lian’s attention earlier. She recognized it now, but figured she should let Hermione answer at least once. The poor thing was having something akin to an aneurysm, due to not being the sole answerer of all questions. Glancing back at the lioness she thought, Get used to it, then glanced up at Adam, I had to.

Looking and sounding very exasperated, Hermione’s faithful hand punched the air once more. Slughorn chortled under his moustache and pointed at her. “That’s Felix Felicis, isn’t it, Professor?”

He looked delighted at having so many students who knew their advanced potions. “It is indeed! Yes, desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavors tend to succeed. . . at least until the effects wear off.”

“Why don’t people drink it all the time, sir?” said a boy Lian was pretty certain was called Terry Boot.

“Because if taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness, and dangerous overconfidence,” said Slughorn. “Too much of a good thing, you know. . . highly toxic in large quantities. But taken sparingly, and very occasionally. . .”

“Have you ever taken it, sir?” asked Michael Corner with great interest.

“Twice in my life. And that, is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson.” There was a silence in which every bubble and gurgle of the surrounding potions seemed by magnified tenfold. “One tiny bottle of Felix Felicis,” said Slughorn, taking a minuscule glass bottle with a cork in it out of his pocket and showing it to them all. “Enough for twelve hours’ luck. From dawn till dusk, you will be lucky in everything you attempt.”

Lian’s mouth had gone very dry at that announcement. All your endeavors tend to succeed… she licked her lips as her mind magnified one, very specific endeavor she absolutely needed to succeed. She took a deep, steadying breath. I have to win that...for Ollie…

“So” said Slughorn, suddenly brisk, “how are you to win my fabulous prize? Well, by turning to page ten of Advanced Potion-Making. We have a little over an hour left to us, which should be time for you to make a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. I know it is more complex than-” Adam was already flipping through his book to find the chapter on the potion, and Lian was right behind him, scanning the ingredients list and moving quickly but discreetly to the cupboard while Slughorn finished instructing and bid them all good luck. No pun intended!

Back at their desk, Lian gave Adam’s textbook a sly glance and learned that his brothers had written plenty of notes over that page as well.

Brilliant. She shook her head, suddenly wishing she’d grown up with an older sibling, and turned back to her work. The hour went on in an unbearable tense state, never ceasing until Slughorn called for them to stop stirring. He moved slowly from table to table, nodding at Theo’s attempt, but made no comment. He reacted the same to hers, and Hermione’s potion, but stopped dead, staring between Adam and Harry in disbelief. “Dear boy, what is your name?”

“Adam Quince, sir,” he replied.

“Well, I would never have believed but it must be true--we have a tie! I’m not surprised to see Harry’s prowess at Potions, he takes after his mother you know!” Slughorn beamed at Harry. Lian, who saw her chances for getting that lucky potion disappearing before her eyes, thought of an idea.

“Adam finished first,” she said with a note of finality, loud enough for everyone to hear her. Slughorn looked around at her, slightly confused at her tone. Lian imagined he’d been about to say something to the effect of splitting the already small dosage of Felix Felicis, but if he believed her then he’d have to concede… Lian kept her facial features blank and merely shrugged at the old wizard. “Just saying.”

“No, I believe you’re quite right. I did in fact notice that Mr. Quince here had finished before I called time; I just wasn’t sure whether he’d given up the assignment-”

“One thing you can be certain of, professor,” Adam chipped in suddenly, “is that I never give up.” And then he ruined the declaration by winking down at Lian.

“Well then, as promised, here is your prize, Mr. Quince. One bottle of Felix Felicis, use it well!” Slughorn handed Adam the glass containment, watching as he pocketed it swiftly. Shortly after they were assigned a rather light load of homework, Adam turned on Lian, placing his hand on her potions book to prevent her from leaving.

“What was that?” he asked in a low voice.

“What was what?” she replied vaguely, well aware that Draco and Theo were hanging near the door, watching them talk.

“You made sure I got it; you could’ve kept quiet but you wanted it to go to me. What do you want with it?” Adam leaned over her, trying to intimidate her.

“Who said I wanted anything? You won fair and square, I was simply tooting your horn for you,” she regretted that phrase as soon as it slipped out.

He gazed down at her a heartbeat longer, before reaching into his pocket, taking her hand with his other and placing the little bottle in her palm. But it wasn’t that simple, it never was with him, he held her hand firmly, staring into her eyes. “Tell me why you need it and it’s yours.”

“Well if you must know,” she began in a sardonic tone. “There’s a skeleton in my closet I’d like to get rid of but don’t want to have to explain what he’s doing in there to my peers and teachers so-ow.”

He’d squeezed her hand a bit harder than she felt necessary. “Lian.”

She sighed. “I can’t tell you why.”

Adam nodded and pocketed the potion yet again. “Well, when you change your mind, it’s all yours.” He touched his nose to her forehead and then allowed her to stow Advanced Potion Making in her bag. Walking a little behind her as she joined her housemates at the door and down the corridor to dinner, Adam listened as one of them complained loudly about the result of the lesson. Three guesses who.

“That was absolute rubbish! Potter’s never been able to make a decent potion in his life!” Draco exclaimed.

“Technically he took remedial potions last year,” Lian reminded him, regretting it almost instantly. Harry had taken no such thing; that had been a cover for his failed Occlumency lessons.

Draco grunted in acknowledgement. “Still, I would’ve thought you’d fair better, Kowalski, seeing how you spent all that time training under Professor Snape to be a potioneer.”

Lian shook her head, about to explain that he’d actually been perfecting her Occlumency skills when Adam chose that moment to speak up from behind them. “Lian’s not that interested in potions, she always talked about being an Alchemist like her aunt.”

“Did I?” Lian said evasively as Theo looked from her to Adam and back again.

“Yeah, you liked to boast that you’d be the next Nicholas Flamel,” he allowed a dramatic pause before adding, “which on some level would make me the next Perenelle-”

“How was Charms, Draco?” Lian asked pointedly as they climbed the stairs into the entrance hall.

“I don’t have Charms until Wednesday,” he replied, still looking perturbed by Adam’s  statement .

“Right. Theo, how was Ancient Runes?”

“Great... since when do you call us by our first names?” Theo was frowning at her, knowing she was trying to change the subject and steer it as far away from Adam as possible.

She bit her tongue. “It slipped out. Anyway, I’m hungry anyone else just really hungry let’s go-” she marched into the great hall for dinner, dragging her housemates along in her wake. But she wasn’t safe yet, for the moment she sat down and picked up a fork, Pansy and Daphne descended upon her.

“Is it him-”

“The one Jason told me about-”

“Is it him-?”

“The one who held you-”

“Is it him-!”

“Its that Quince, guy, right?” Daphne asked, despite Pansy’s interruptions.

“It is! I knew it! How long have you two been in love??” Pansy giggled and shook her arm.

Lian sighed, choosing her words carefully because she knew he had excellent hearing. “Yes he held me, no we’re not in love, so stop looking at me like that-” she glared at their eager and knowing looks. She’d never been very good at ‘girl talk’, but she suspected that the very public dining hall was the wrong place to have it. “He’s my best friend from school, and we’re very comfortable around one another. Nothing more.”

“Why?” Pansy whined. “He’s hot.”

“Then you date him,” Lian replied briskly, serving herself some steak and kidney pie. “I have enough problems on my plate without a ridiculous distraction such as a boyfriend.”

“Like what?” said Pansy incredulously, appalled that anything could be more important than a boyfriend. To answer, Lian merely handed her the schedule Snape had given her that morning. She was signed up for six classes, having only dropped Charms (finally!) and Divination. Most sixth years had dropped up to four, focusing on the classes that would help them achieve their dream career, whatever that was. Lian was best with Transfiguration and Potions because it was the closest she could get to Alchemy at Hogwarts. She had already planned out a separate schedule with her aunt so that she could keep up with those studies during her free periods. She wanted to keep up with Care of Magical Creatures because she enjoyed the subject, she kept up with History of Magic because it was important, Defense Against the Dark Arts because it was necessary, Herbology because it contributed to Alchemy and CMC, Arithmancy because her father made it a requirement, Astronomy because it was fascinating, and she had to set time aside for continued Occlumency lessons in secret, Quidditch practice, and for future DA meetings she hoped would be revived. And also, her own private studies that had nothing to do with clubs, friends or classes. She’d marked her time with Draco and Theo as “Practice”, and those hours she’d imagined the secret studies taking place she’d marked as “Study”.

As Pansy and Daphne gaped at the parchment, Lian stated. “I’m booked. Maybe I can get a boyfriend after graduation.”

Assuming I last that long...


	8. Projecting

The first week had been filled with the usual amount of overwhelming new information, so it wasn’t until Saturday that Lian, Draco and I were able to sneak out of the common room and search for a place to train. That was a more apt description than studying or practice, I thought. Lian suggested we try the Room of Requirement, and Draco was interested as to the trick to getting inside of it, and that’s how the three of us wound up on the 7th floor.

“Why doesn’t it just show up on approach?” Draco was asking as we watched Lian pace back and forth.

“The rules of the room say that it won’t appear unless someone has real need of it.”

“Shouldn’t it sense we have a need of it as we climb seven flights of stairs to reach this spot?” I asked, if only to watch her eyebrows come together as she looked at me. Was it weird that I wanted so desperately for her to look at me, even if it was because she disagreed or was upset with me; any attention from her was welcome at this point. Ever since he entered the castle, she’d been acting less like the firecracker that had illuminated our fifth year and more like...like...well, presumably, her old self.

They had inside jokes. They had history. They had some kind of connection, beyond what Lian had insisted it to be.

“Real intent and real need are two different things, no matter how similar they may seem,” Lian’s voice landed on my ears a few seconds late, so by the time I was paying attention again she had summoned the room and was beckoning Draco and myself inside.

Walking through the rather ordinary door behind them, I was surprised to recognize the narrow staircase, leading up to a very familiar loft. It was missing her cluttered desk, her wardrobe, decorations and her bed but the hard wood floor was there, the mirrored wall was there, and the windowed wall with a perfect view of the New York City skyline.

“This feels weird.” Draco commented, glancing around while Lian and I moved to the center. I sat down criss-cross, but Lian took a moment to stretch, and some of the motions she made looked like she was about to break into a dance. But then the moment had passed and she had settled with her back facing her city, waiting for Draco and I to settle.

“Alright,” Lian said as he finally joined us on the floor. “Who wants to go first?” Then she laughed and said, “Never mind, I already know.” She’d closed her eyes and had reached out to my head before I could even properly clear it.

Great, now she’s going to see and feel all my resentment. Having her in my head was strange because initially it had been like her reach did all it could to tell me she was sniffing around at my thoughts and memories. The closest thing I could relate it to was a rebellious child banging a ladle against a pot. But today when she reached out, I couldn’t even tell. Guess which was more terrifying to experience.

“Theo,” she muttered warningly.

Right, I wasn’t even trying to keep her out. I took a deep breath and focused all my mental energy on the image of the common room fireplace. It was several seconds before I realized Lian was laughing. “What?” I asked defensively, glaring at her.

“Nothing. I just think its funny that you gave me a screensaver-” she hooted and then cleared her throat. “I appreciate the effort but you do know that keeping your mind clear has more to it then thinking of something random and nothing else, right?”

“Well,” I hesitated.

“It works, doesn’t it?” Draco asked defensively. Lian glanced rapidly between us, closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands and sighed. “Kowalski?”

“We’re gonna take a break from Occlumency for a second.”

I felt my entire person relax instantly, as opposed to Draco who tensed right up. “What happened to not giving up?”

“I’m not giving up, I just wanna try something else. You two sit comfortably alright? But don’t slouch.”

We watched as she straightened her spine, her arms relaxed as her hand rested on her thighs. Shrugging at one another, we copied her pose. “Now what?”

“Close your eyes, and just focus on your breathing.”

Her voice was soft but commanding. I felt compelled to do whatever she told me to do--more so than usual. Is this what being hypnotized felt like?

“Inhale slowly, let your lungs become full with air...and then release just as slowly...you might find that some thoughts will jump out at you...just acknowledge them and let them move on. Imagine a small child riding a bicycle. Those are your thoughts. Let him ride away…”

She’d shown Draco and I quite a few muggle things over the summer, a bicycle being one of them. Draco’s nickname for it was “death contraption” I believe. I could picture a kid riding one of them. But then a car swerved out of nowhere, the kid panicked and steered into a tree, the tree fell and smashed into a house. Lian’s house. Her mother came rushing out into the street to scold the kid, brandishing her wand. The Muggle’s arrested her for harassing the child on the bike. She broke out, had to take her family on the run-

“Theo?” I was being shaken. I opened my eyes and registered that I was flat on my back, while Draco and Lian’s faces hovered over mine. “You okay?” Lian sounded concerned, but her face was arranged in such a strange way I knew she was trying not to laugh.

“Did you see any of that..?” I asked pointedly.

She nodded, biting her lip. “You suck at meditation.”

“He worries too much,” Draco commented, sitting back. “If you weren’t teaching us he might relax but that’s impossible.”

“That’s not true,” I wasn’t sure if she meant her instruction wasn’t making me worry or if it wasn’t impossible that I could learn from another. And she didn’t clarify.

Draco checked his wristwatch and cursed softly. “We need to continue this later.”

Lian raised her eyebrows. “Tryouts?”

“Almost forgot. C’mon then,” he got to his feet and offered her a hand. That sent quite a few alarm bells off in my head. He was beginning to see her as an equal, or maybe he had for a while now. Her taking it was almost as alarming, but I couldn’t understand why. Maybe I was just on edge from watching her run around with her old friend. The one that should have remained in her past.

“See you later!” Lian called cheerfully as she and Draco left me alone in the Room of Requirement. It changed the second the door had shut, from Lian’s room back in New York, to a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. I gave the strange room my approval, as its efforts to be as authentic as possible were impressive, right down to the sounds of a train charging along its track. There was even a decent amount of scenery flitting past the window. But I didn’t want to look at the window, I was more lost in thought than anything. My mind was filled with moments from last year, where Lian was still something of a mystery to us all. She was loud, forward and unpredictable, but clever and kind. Sometimes I wondered why the hat saw fit to throw her into Slytherin, especially on days where she was more Gryffindor, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. I came to the conclusion that of all the houses, Lian had chosen Slytherin. Having gotten to know her better, I often asked myself why. She was wholesome, while the rest of us stalked the corridors like we owned the place simply because we had the right pedigree or whatever. Not to mention, most of us had a fair amount of darkness inside. I blamed mine on my father.

I didn’t have long to wonder why the room had shown me the train car though. Set on the seat opposite me was a magizoology book written by one Newt Scamander. It belonged to a certain American who used to spend hours in my company, and mine alone. She’d be perfectly content to sit in silence, working on homework or writing letters to her family and friends.

My blood boiled at the idea that one of those friends might have been Quince. And now he was in the castle and I rarely saw one without the other. It had only been a week, but just yesterday he’d waited outside the Slytherin common room in order to walk her to breakfast. He was so irritating when he was around her, like he existed to show off how close he was to Lian. But then he’d smile and charm the living daylights out of everyone else and it was entirely absurd but it kept happening.

I missed last year. I didn’t miss the insane, pink DADA teacher, but everything else, yes. This year could have been perfect if he hadn’t crashed it. If I could just figure out a way to get rid of him...

\-------------

* * *

Two weeks slipped by without him noticing much. On the morning of the twenty-fifth, Adam awoke quite suddenly, as though his brain had set its own little alarm clock. Staggering into the bathroom, he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror and bit back a smile. His bed-head made him look like he’d had something blow up in his face, while his eyes, usually a pleasant hazel, were melted gold. He had maybe ten minutes before it woke up.

Dressing efficiently, he tried not to disturb any of his still slumbering housemates, though he stubbed his toe on Malone’s trunk and had to bite back an exclamation that would’ve woken the entire house. Treading lightly through the common room he spotted Susan Bones lying limply across her Transfiguration homework. He winced in sympathy for her when he noticed that her essay was smudged and she had ink stains all over her face. That’s a rewrite.

He actually managed to reach the great hall and caught the scent of a wonderful breakfast when he heard the whispered growl from deep within. Feed me. 

And just like that, the wolf was awake. Good morning to you too.

Bacon.

Okay, hang on. Only a few early birds were present in the great hall aside from himself, certainly no one at the Hufflepuff table as of yet. Claiming a spot closer to the door, Adam began to load up his plate with all kinds of protein.

The growls of hunger from inside softened the more food he consumed, and halfway through a heart attack just waiting to happen his senses suddenly went on high alert as a group of Slytherin girls walked through the double doors. His vision especially went into overdrive, blurring out Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass so he could focus on Her. He watched them approach and went to say ‘good morning’, when it decided to go another route. Instead of giving a warm greeting, the wolf decided to utter something between a grunt and a growl.

Lian turned to meet his golden gaze and blinked serenely. “Good morning indeed.”

Adam cleared his throat. “Sorry.”

She joined him on the bench and stole some of his sausage. “I know what time it is, and honestly I expected to be tackled.”

The wolf made a noise of approval while Adam laughed sheepishly. “That’s still a possibility…”

“Oh so I should run, is what you’re saying?” she asked, and he prayed she was kidding.

“In all honesty Lian, that’s the last thing you should do.” He watched her unconsciously as she helped herself to orange juice and oatmeal. He still had to have a frank discussion with her but he couldn’t be certain if she was ready to hear what he had to say. It wasn’t entirely impossible, Adam had watched his older siblings go through similar challenges, excepting in cases where the target person was a werewolf too. Those types of unions seemed more smooth. Only one of his siblings had failed, and he’d failed in the worst possible way. Morrigan forbid Adam go the same way but if failure was in his future he swore he would fail with grace.

But when it came to Lian...while he knew her so well, Adam was very much aware that he didn’t know everything. He didn’t need to, he trusted her judgement completely, but the conflict came because whatever she was withholding was somehow preventing her from accepting their fate. That much he could figure out on his own. Maybe having that necessary discussion would move things along in the right direction… Of course, it could just as easily knock things back to square one…

“Ready?” Lian was already standing up and waving a hand in front of his face. “We’ve got Transfiguration in ten minutes, but it's either sit here and risk being late or get there early.”

“Fair enough,” he grabbed his bag and followed in her wake. The wolf instinct had calmed for the moment, so the morning was off to a good start. Adam was well aware that many in his situation would embody the animal side, saying they were separate and belonged to a monster that was trying to take over, but Adam knew better. He was the wolf, and the wolf was him; just a tad more aggressive when the moon reached it's ninetieth percentile onto the full face. It was always like this, but Alpha promised it would calm down when he was older. Though, Shep was nearly 30 and he still woke up a few days shy of the full moon with wild eyes and bushy hair.

“So...have you told your housemates, yet?” Lian asked about halfway to class.

“About what I am? Nah,” he replied with a shrug. “I wanted to see if they could figure it out. So far I’ve been disappointed.”

“Yeah well,” Lian shook her head. “They’re very self-involved. If it’s not right in their face or affects them in any way then what’s the point in caring?”

“Why do you like this school again?”

“Shut up, it was like that at Ilvermorny too.” she pushed at him playfully.

“Only because they’d all seen six of my siblings pass through the hallways and five of them to graduation.” Adam replied. “I wasn’t anything new.”

“Maybe not to the older classes but in our year it was a shock. I thought Matt would never speak to you again when you finally came out.” Lian giggled. “That sounded better in my head.”

“Uh huh.”

The lesson covered the properties and uses of Self-Transfiguration, something Lian and Adam had learned and studied during their first year in Ilvermorny, so he spent the class gazing at her as she took notes. Wait, notes? Upon further inspection he saw that she wasn’t jotting down anything of what Professor McGonagall was lecturing upon, rather she was writing up a strange list for herself…

Silver, not gold

DNA strand? 

1971

Blood. Why? No turns or spins. 

One drop. Two?

Portkey? 

Sand dream

Lian glanced his way and caught him reading over her elbow, so she jabbed him in the ribs. It hardly registered in his nervous system, and he took out his own quill and a piece of parchment to scribe out: Shopping list?

Lian rolled her eyes and wrote: Stream of conscious. And then added before he could ask: None of your business.

As reflected earlier at breakfast-Lian was hiding something. Adam wrote: I can help you.

Lian replied: Who said I needed help?

Clearly you’re confused or you wouldn’t write out your concerns.

Maybe I needed something to do since I already learned all I needed about Self-Trans from Kamau. 

True. I miss his classes.

You only had his class for one year.

And I think that’s a crying shame. Who says you can’t be a werewolf and an Animagus?

Literally anyone who has studied Lycanthropy. Your own mother-

“Ms. Kowalski, Mr. Quince,” McGonagall’s voice cracked over their heads like thunder. Everyone was looking at them as they raised their heads from their written conversation. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”

“No, Professor,” said Lian quickly, attempting to shove her parchment under her unopened textbook. She only got to cover the weird list before McGonagall seized it and Adam’s parchment and held them up, quick as a flash. And yet, the list was missing, Adam noticed. The weight of the textbook had torn it free from the rest of the evidence.

“Indeed, and yet you felt the need to discuss it while I’m talking, so it must be very important,” she declared, giving the pair of them a rather stern gaze. Brandishing their notes, she said, “Would you like to read these aloud or shall I?”

Adam had the decency to look guilty, or at least tried to. With the way his appearance was that morning, it was entirely possible he looked pleased. “I don’t think that’s necessary-it was my fault, Professor. I was distracting her-”

“Ah, then it would seem appropriate for you to share with the class, then.” McGonagall gestured for him to stand and handed him the conversation. “Read loudly for the students in the back, if you please.”

Adam knew this tactic. Teachers tried it to make their students embarrassed enough so that they would never pass notes in class again. Unfortunately, that only worked on the students who had a thing called shame. Glancing down at Lian he stage whispered, “Wanna read this in parts?”

“I’m okay, you got this,” she stage whispered back. She even gave him the thumbs up.

Squaring his shoulders, Adam read loudly per the teacher’s instructions. He even exaggerated a Canadian/New York accent when switching lines. But in order for the list to go unnoticed, because Lian clearly didn’t want anyone knowing about it, he had to fake the first line. “Whatcha doin? None of your business. I can help you. Who said I needed help? Clearly you’re confused or you wouldn’t write out your concerns. Maybe I needed something to do since I already learned all about Self-Trans from Kamau-” he paused to explain to the class and a red-faced Scottish woman: “-Kamau was our teacher back at Ilvermorny, he studied at Uagadou and thus was more than qualified to teach a Self-Transfiguration class. Anyway, I then wrote: True. I miss his classes. You only had his class for one year. I replied: And I think that’s a crying shame. Who says you can’t-”

“Enough!” McGonagall barked as a few people began to snigger behind their textbooks.

“Aw, I was getting to the good part,” Adam pouted, offering her the parchment which she tore in half.

“See me after class, both of you!” she flared her nostrils before returning to the front of the class where she proceeded to carry on with her lecture. Adam reclaimed his seat and grimaced at Lian.

“That coulda gone better.”

“Yeah, if you weren’t so keen on provoking her,” Lian sighed, resting her chin on the desk in front of her.

“What can I say, I’m feeling a little wild…”

Of course they were given detention for the rest of the week. Adam wondered if McGonagall was aware that he’d have to skip out on Wednesday. If nothing else, Lian could explain in his absence.

For her free period she went to do an Alchemy lesson sent from her aunt. She opted for the courtyard while it was still warm enough to work outside, and he joined her if only to comment on her work or pretend to read her copy of Hogwarts: An Education at What Cost? Apparently her father had slipped it into her bag before she’d boarded the train. At some point he stopped pretending, likely on the chapter about the Basilisk that had been living in the school plumbing for half a century.

For a moment everything was peaceful, until a trespasser, an insignificant student shoved a note in Adam’s face. “What’s this?”

“I was told to give it to you,” the girl replied in a flat voice. Adam registered she was a Ravenclaw moments before she was marching away. Opening it, he found a clearly written message, or rather a summons to the DADA teacher’s office.

Stay. 

Shh. He gathered his things, including the book, and left Lian to her studies without another word. Might as well get this over with. He could see the moon on the rise, though the sky was still bright. He had a suspicion as to why the teacher wanted to see him, but figured he could play dumb until the topic was breached.

Watching people squirm is the best part.

Go back to her.

Hush.

The office door was open on his approach, so Adam merely stood in the doorway and knocked twice, staring across at the wizard. He was bent over the desk which was covered in student essays and discarded quills. The office decor was that of tanks filled with dark creatures for his classes to study and observe. Finally, a competent teacher. Too bad he’s not covering sixth years.

“You asked to see me, sir?”

The greying wizard straightened up and looked around before gesturing to the chair near the desk. “I did indeed, thank you for coming so promptly. Have a seat, Mr. Quince.”

Adam sat.

The teacher cleared his throat and perched on the edge of the desk. “I daresay we have much to discuss. My name is Remus Lupin, and I recognize that while I am not your Defense teacher, the headmaster has asked that I keep an eye out for you. Have you any idea why that might be?”

Adam shrugged. Remus Lupin seemed like a nice enough person, but the sour scent of agitation coming off of him was unbearable. He just wanted to get back to Lian. “He might think we have something in common.” Wrong.

Lupin nodded. “Yes, and I’d be inclined to agree. Would you have any reason to believe he is incorrect?”

He’s not squirming, he’s fishing. “With all due respect sir, I’d rather you got to the point.”

“I’m only trying to preserve your privacy,” he replied gently, but the inner wolf decided he didn’t feel like dancing today.

Sizing up the man before him, Adam assumed aloud, “You attended this school when you were young, and you hid yourself away from the entire student body around this time of the month. You lacked control, of course, and so you locked yourself up in a cage like a wild beast-feel free to correct me sir.” Lupin did not, so Adam continued. “So now I come along, nearly twenty years later, and you automatically assume the same rules apply.” He cleared his throat and sat forward in his chair. “Am I wrong?”

“Rules…” Lupin mused. “I’d prefer the term principles.”

“Spoken like a man scared of his bite,” replied Adam, keeping an even tone as he spoke. “You’ll find no such fear in me.”

“You’re very defensive and harsh for someone who is not afraid,” Lupin observed.

“I only want it to be clear that we have nothing in common, despite the lycanthropy.”

“You admit it then,” Lupin raised his eyebrows. “Most of our kind that I come across at least try to hide or deny it.”

“Our kind?” Adam shook his head as he got to his full height. “You and I are very different, Professor. You were bitten. I was born.”

* * *

\----------------------

“You mean...your parents are also-”

“My mom is, and that’s the important part. Dad’s just a wizard. But my nine siblings and I--all werewolves.”

Lupin sounded about as appalled as Quince sounded arrogant. But I was willing to bet I could beat out both of them with my desire to be sick right there in the corridor. Over and over the truth echoed in my mind: Adam Quince is a werewolf. Adam Quince is a werewolf! Stumbling back the way I’d come, completely forgetting why I’d gone this way to begin with, I rubbed at my temples, very aware that I was breathing shallowly through my mouth and that my hands wouldn’t stop shaking.

Did Lian know?

She knew everything.

Of course she’d know about this too.

Unless he never told her…

She had to know. This would change everything. Make it all go back to the way it was supposed to be!

I practically ran to the common room, but she wasn’t there. Remembering it was her study period I rushed to the hall but she wasn’t in her usual spot. She liked being in high places, so maybe she was hanging out in one of the towers? As I sprinted back up the corridor, movement out the window caught my attention and I spotted her at last. She was sitting on a stone bench out in the courtyard, her long hair falling over her face as she read.

I made the final dash out into the sunlight, “Kowalski!”

She raised her head, brushing her hair lazily out of the way. “Oh, hey stranger.”

I stopped before her, trying to catch my breath. I had to tell her, warn her about Quince-

Suddenly there was an arm around my shoulders, it's forearm curling around my collarbone. “For a skinny guy, you sure run fast,” Adam commented, his voice dripping with amusement. To Lian he added, “I was just leaving Lupin’s office and this guy was kicking up dust about halfway down the corridor.”

She raised her eyebrows at the pair of us, and I realized, simply by her expression, that she already knew. “Adam, let him go,” she said calmly.

“What? I’m not hurting him,” he replied innocently, messing up my hair with his free hand. I would’ve struggled against such an action but my body had gone very still the second he laid his claws on me. I mean, they were hands, I knew they were hands but my imagination was playing horrible tricks on me. For instance, I was afraid to look at his face in case I saw a snout instead.

“Adam.” Lian said sternly, as though dealing with a badly behaved dog. “He’s scared of you. Step away from the Slytherin.”

Quince removed his arm from it's locked position around my shoulders and backed off. “It’s not my fault he was eavesdropping.”

“No, but the fault falls on your actions thereafter,” she said. “Theo, whatever you’re thinking right now, let me assure you-”

“He’s a werewolf, Kowalski!” I couldn’t seem to say that fast enough. Why was she being so calm? He’s a monster!

Lian sighed, and then quoted Professor McGonagall from earlier: “A little louder for the students in the back.”

“Yeah, seriously dude,” Quince was grinning at me. “Enunciate.”

“I’m serious, Kowalski—he’s dangerous!” Maybe he’d brainwashed her somehow. Maybe if I kept up the panicky vibrato my voice has risen to she’d snap out of it. “If we turn him into Dumbledore now, he’ll get expelled or at the very least sent back to Ilvermorny.” Why did she look so exasperated? She ought to be relieved.

“I very much doubt that,” Quince said, settling on the bench next to Lian. “Seeing as he already knew about me and what I am before approving my transfer.”

Lian elbowed him in the ribs. “You’re not helping.”

“You heard him, he’s already plotting to kick me out of here,” Quince scoffed. “And after we sang karaoke together.” He sniffed loudly. “You’ve changed, man!”

Seeing it sit beside her on the bench stirred something vile inside my soul, and I grabbed her arm pulling her towards me. If I expected Quince to growl and lash out, I was disappointed with only the slight raise of his eyebrows. Had his eyes always been gold? Lian pushed me away, pulling her arm out of my grip. “What are you doing?”

“You have to stay away from him, Kowalski,” was my next mistake. Really if I’d have learned anything from Lian over the past year it was that I should never tell her what she could and couldn’t do.

She seemed to inflate with some kind of righteous fury before my eyes and behind her I spotted Quince giving me a very smug grin. We both knew immediately this was not going to go my way. “I don’t have to do anything, Nott!” Back to the surname, I’d really stepped in it. “Who are you to tell me what to do? You’re not my keeper, if anything I’m yours but you don’t see me telling you to stay away from that dreaded Charms class now do you!”

“What’s Charms class got to do with anything?” I asked, trying to find her sense in this argument we were suddenly having.

“I hate Charms! If you’d paid attention to anything you’d know that! But just because I hate it I won’t let that influence your studies. But if you hate werewolves so badly you can steer clear but don’t throw me in with your baggage! Adam and I have been friends since we were twelve-”

“-eleven-” Quince said behind her.

“-I didn’t like you until 2nd year-” she snapped at him.

“-Yes you did, you just didn’t wanna admit it.”

“-and you-” Lian continued to berate me as though Quince had not interrupted, “-can’t just waltz into my life and tell me how to live it and who to spend it with. I am not your house elf to answer at your every beck and call, Theodore Ignatius Nott!”

Quince blinked. “His initials spell ‘Tin’?”

“Someone has to look out for you!” I shot back.

“Excuse me!”

“You’re too busy to see what’s good for you-! So if someone, like I dunno say an ally has to tell you something you don’t want to hear, then-” I broke off, my eye crossing slightly to keep her wand in my view. “-what are you going to do with that?”

“Nothing. Not if I don’t have to. Not if you listen.” Lian’s voice was calm, which of course gave me more concern than her anger. “What you’re doing right now is projecting. You’re scared of werewolves, and you’re placing the blame on Adam, who has done nothing but be kind to anyone. You don’t know what he’s like as a wolf-”

“I don’t have to, they’re all out of control monsters we learned that in third year from Snape-” I had to convince her somehow, she was about to shut me down and I couldn’t let that happen!

“I thought Lupin taught Defense in your third year,” she said quietly.

“He was sick for a few days so Snape took over.”

“And he decided to teach the lesson on werewolves?” she asked.

“Well, yeah. Draco reckons he was trying to show us all the signs that Lupin was a were-”

“In the last two weeks I’ve noticed how Snape’s affiliation with Lupin rivals his affiliation with one Sirius Black. In other words, our dear head of house has a blind spot when it comes to his old schoolmates, you know the ones he hated.” Lian’s voice was clipped and I had a very bad feeling about where she was going with this. “So you took the words of a man who hated a werewolf and took them to be truth. And from what I’ve gleaned from the rest of our classmates, you really only know how to pick out a werewolf from a regular wolf. You don’t actually know anything of what they go through, what happens or why. I do. So don’t stand there and yell at me saying you know better. Don’t look at Adam and tell me that he’s a monster. Don’t say I don’t know what’s good for me when you have no idea yourself. I get that you have your reasons for being afraid but until you separate your fears from reality then,” she stowed her wand away just as the bell rang out across the castle. “Don’t talk to me.”


	9. Running with the Wolves

_It didn't work_ … Lian frowned at nothing in particular, her broom hovering halfway between the earth and sky. She always did think better when she was aloft. Her mind wandered this way and that but settled on Adam Quince. She'd tried for the last month to avoid thinking about him, because then she'd have to face the facts.

When she'd confronted him initially, that first night back in the castle, he hardly had to speak before she found his reason for being there.

Back at Ilvermorny, they'd grown pretty close and had a good thing going. She'd gotten to a point where she felt she could really trust him, more than anyone else in her life, even Jake… but just when she was about to tell him about Ollie, something she'd never shared with another person before, he dropped the soulmate-bomb on her.

Upon reflection, Lian recognized that he'd been nervous in telling her, and thus might have been a little vague and yet very aggressive in telling her that she was destined to be with him forever.

The way he'd phrased it then, it kinda sounded like he expected her to forego anyone and anything else and be devoted to him alone. After considerable research into the subject, even going so far as to calling his Alpha, aka his mother, Lian learned what he'd intended to ask. Because it was a question, rather than a demand…but whatever it was, she had been in no way prepared to receive it at the tender, volatile age of 15.

Still, she'd done all she could to prevent him getting so attached that he'd need her like a lifeline…or so she believed. The fact that he'd practically flunked his first 6th year and had to follow her to another school only proved that she had in some way failed.

_But how?! I have been nothing if not cautious! Alert! On guard! Aware-_

"HEADS UP!" The Quaffle crashed into her stomach before she could even blink, let alone move in a position to catch it. Her broom shuddered as it was jilted off its relaxed, floating course and threatened to lose balance completely.

 _Right. Quidditch practice_. Tightening her grip on the broom handle, Lian tossed the Quaffle back the way it had come. Blaise caught it easily—apparently he had catlike reflexes nobody knew about until now—and tilted his head at a jaunty angle. “Daydreaming, Kowalski?”

“I got bored waiting for you to learn how to play,” she called back, but without any bite. As she spoke, her stomach grumbled, reminding her that she needed to eat right after practice. She'd opted to skip dinner, knowing she could eat later-Fred Weasley had shown her where and how to get into the kitchens the year before.

Tryouts had been brutal this year. They'd raked the house for two new chasers who could not only fly, but also keep up with Lian's speed and forward style of play. In the end they'd settled on Urquhart, a wall of a fifth year, and Blaise, who'd barely beat Vaisey in agility.

They'd been working on drills right around the time Lian had gotten lost in thought, but luckily she had years of training her reflexes to be just as quick as her mind could be. Sometimes faster. _That's what happens when you play a sport that involves flying at high speeds with an explosive device between your ankles I guess_.

"I learned," Blaise was saying, summoning her attention once more. "Let's play."

He dived several meters before shooting straight for the goal where Astoria was practicing with Urquhart. Lian gave him ten seconds before soaring after him, barrel-rolling around him as she knocked the quaffle out of his hands, sending it to the ground far below. Urquhart, Blaise and herself went into a deep dive after it, essentially playing chicken with the earth. Blaise pulled up first, followed by Urquhart seconds later. Lian leveled her broom handle with the grass, touching down just long enough to seize the quaffle with her ankles before taking off skyward once again. She dodged around Draco, who was shouting at Crabbe and Goyle--apparently they'd clubbed each other with their beaters bats again, glancing over her shoulder to see Blaise and Urquhart just behind her.

Feeling a bit reckless, she pointed her broom down, flipping her body head over heels and releasing the quaffle at the right angle, while she hung from the broom by her hands alone. The ball sailed through the air beautifully, right through the middle, unprotected hoop.

"Woo! That's how it's done!" she called, hauling herself back onto her broom, grinning at her teammates.

"Save those antics for the actual gamedays, Kowalski," said Draco dismissively, not even looking at her. "You need to get Blaise and Alexander up to your standard if we're going to win against Gryffindor. _Which we are_."

Lian, who was momentarily distracted by the fact that Urquhart's first name was Alexander, sighed, "Fine. Come on boys," she went after the quaffle and then flew back to the newbies. "We're playing keep-away."

"What's that?" Alexander Urquhart asked.

"You two keep the quaffle away from me and vice versa. Ready, go!" she bolted between them, accelerating as she raced up the field again. _Who's daydreaming now, Blaise?_

Practice ran on through dusk, but as the sky grew darker and Lian became more antsy, she signaled to Draco that practice had to come to an abrupt end.

He liked that about as well as she liked Vincent Crabbe. "Excuse me, but I believe it says Captain on _my_ uniform," he said haughtily. "We've a few more drills to go-"

"Then we should finish them tomorrow. Our time would be better spent inside tonight," she glanced towards the moon. "Don't you think?"

Draco glanced up at the very large and very bright full moon and nodded mutely, before giving two short blasts on the whistle. "That's it for tonight!"

"'That's it'?" Blaise repeated sardonically. "' _That's it_ '? Whatever happened to 'good work everyone', or 'that was the most excellent practice I've ever seen', or 'good flying there, Blaise, your skills surpass any-'"

"Good work everyone that was the most excellent practice I've ever seen--except for you Blaise. Try not to drop the quaffle so much." Draco said in a dull monotone, already descending toward the locker room. Astoria laughed at the look on Blaise's face, before the rest of them followed after their captain.

They all spent too long in the changing room for Lian's liking, and she waited for all six of them to head off across the moonlit grounds before even bothering to change herself. By the time she exited the pitch and moved across the grass, she could hear a low howl in the distance, followed almost immediately by another.

 _You have a mountain of homework waiting for you,_ she reminded herself. Term had only been two weeks and yet she was going to be buried beneath her procrastination. _You need a good night's rest. You have a kitchen to raid, house-elves to delight and a stomach to feed. This isn't like last year. Go inside. You should go inside. You should go inside right now_.

As another howl ripped through the young evening, Lian shifted into her animagus form seamlessly. _A minute never hurt anybody_. Since the battle last June, she'd taken special care to not let the beast take control over her again. Not to mention, she only had five legs instead of six now, not that it mattered much when it came to running. She was still the fastest creature on the grounds by a wide margin.

She raced into the forbidden forest, the full moon illuminating most of her way, her cat eyes able to see where it couldn't. Scenting the air, she attempted to gage a sort of direction to follow, but the forest was filled with all kinds of fauna, not just the one she had in mind. Decidedly throwing caution to the wind, the wampus tossed back its head and released a roar that scared the crows out of the surrounding trees.

One heartbeat.

Three.

The silence permeated and still nothing called in return, and yet, she could detect the paw steps along the earthy floor, belonging to not one, but a few. She saw the dog first: big, shaggy and bearlike in size. It's black fur made it seem like a breathing shadow that crept through the trees toward her. She was so taken aback by its appearance, she almost didn't notice the grey wolf that followed along in its wake. It was skinny by werewolf standards, but judging by its longer limbs and claws, there was nothing else it could be.

Their scents were both familiar but unfamiliar to her, neither seemed hostile as they drew near. Directing her thoughts toward the dog, she tried to figure out how intelligent it was. Rather than the usual thoughts of a dog she found rich memories of a wizard. She saw Harry, or someone who looked very like him, astride three other happy, young men, and a young woman with brilliant green eyes. She withdrew from the dog quickly, understanding then and there who the animagus must be, further confirming her suspicion about the werewolf's identity.

They were both staring wide eyed at her, and she realized that they'd probably never seen a wampus cat before, let alone one with only five legs instead of the usual six. Black decided he would attempt to investigate her stump, which Lian did not appreciate and made a point of telling him so. 

She pulled away from him sharply, curling back her lips in a snarl. At that precise moment, a deep growl sounded behind her, the kind that made her bone marrow quiver. She didn't need to turn, Lian knew exactly who that kind of sound belonged to--it was the other two who displayed concern, to put it lightly. Black showed his teeth and growled back, his hackles rising as the skinny wolf moved back a pace, flexing its claws in case he needed to use them.

Lian watched as the black werewolf moved forward into the clearing, keeping himself close to her but facing down the other two. She rolled her eyes at this, but did not move. Any sudden movement might set him off, and that was a mistake she wouldn't make a third time. She looked from one lycan to another, amazed by the little to no comparison between them.

As a werewolf, Lupin was thin and reedy, his hair was gray and from ear tip to his tail end his movements were muted, almost ashamed. If he could talk in this form, she'd expect him to say 'pardon me, excuse me, sorry' to every blade of grass he stepped on.

Adam, on the other paw, was a very different story. Lian had seen a few other werewolves at Ilvermorny, Adam's younger brother Leo being one of them. If the rest of their family resembled Adam's changed form in any way, she wasn't sure she wanted to meet them. His wolf was massive, covered in thick furs and muscle. His tail, chest and neck fur was especially bushy--maybe it was regional thing: it did get cold in Alaska or wherever he lived. Not to mention, if his regular height was intimidating, his transformed height from ear tip to clawed foot was astounding. It wasn't as though Lian could approach him with measuring tape, but if she'd had to guess she would say about eight feet…ish.

The black werewolf, convinced that the dog and the grey wolf weren't a threat, turned to look at her. His golden eyes softened considerably, looking less wild and feral and more like her tousle haired friend. He sniffed at her ear, then rested his muzzle on her head briefly. Lian knew all too well that while he was a wolf, Adam both hated and adored her animagus form; hated because she was essentially a big cat. Adored because she was also the symbol of his Ilvermorny house, and the fact that she was an animagus allowed her to come see him on these nights.

Though, Adam had told her once that he could never hurt her, no matter what form or shape they were in.

Dimly she was aware that he'd started to lick her ears and down towards her neck, so she jumped up suddenly and raced through the trees. Seconds later she could hear him thundering after her, desperate to catch her but she knew she could outrun him any day. She picked up on the other two running with them, for no other reason than curiosity or perhaps the pack mentality.

 _Homework_ , cried her losing side desperately.

 _Who cares?_ The rest of her argued.

She jumped over a fallen tree, made a hairpin turn and raced through the undergrowth, kicking up a storm of leaves in her wake. The more she ran the less she wanted to stop. The forest was enormous and seemed to go on forever. She could run all night…

In a split second her claw snagged on a sapling of Devil's Snare and, much like quidditch practice, she found herself flipping head over tail. And she was accelerating too, as apparently she was rolling downhill. When the world finally stopped spinning, she pushed herself up and looked around.

 _Is that..?_ Lian got shakily to her feet and began to approach the thing standing not ten feet from where she had landed. _It is. What the heck? Who leaves a muggle car in the middle of wizard woods?_

From the top of the ravine she could hear Black barking at her, while Adam proceeded to growl and whine at the same time. Ignoring them, she moved closer to the rusted and dirty car, pushing back the branches and twigs that had fallen across it. All the windows had been shattered, while the windshield had a good sized hole punched through the middle.

She barely had time to wonder where it had come from or how long it had been rotting in the forbidden forest before she realized she'd turned back into a human. Right as she was about to re-transform, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight as something exhaled down on her. Moving very slowly, Lian looked up into the eyes of the born werewolf. He'd told her once that he'd taken the Wolfsbane potion only sparingly, and only when he was younger. Never had he needed it at Ilvermorny, for he claimed that he was always in control. And yet as she stared into his golden, feral eyes, she wondered if she'd finally caught him in a lie…

The werewolf's jaws opened wide and she remembered him telling her that a werewolf's bite was never intended to infect; it was meant to kill, a last resort for a wolf defending itself or its pack. Watching his fangs glisten in the moonlight, she realized that he could probably swallow small children whole, if he ever lost control, that is. Seconds later he'd shut his mouth, apparently determined to cut his yawn short, and focused his eyes on her human-ness once again. Lian expected to feel afraid, to feel her heart hammering against her ribcage until it hurt to draw breath but she didn't. The only scary thing about that moment in time was how calm she felt standing so close to a werewolf she could count his ribs. He didn't seem threatening at all, if anything he appeared happier to see her as a human than as a five-legged wampus cat. And on some level, she could appreciate that.

But that didn't stop her from transforming and running circles around all three canines.

* * *

It was Thursday night, the office was dark except for the burning light from the fireplace. The two wizards had been lost in their own thoughts for quite some time before either spoke.

"Did you know?" Remus asked quietly, gazing out the window of his office. Sirius poured himself a glass of firewhiskey, before taking a seat opposite his old friend. They hadn't exactly planned on him coming to Hogwarts for the full moon, it sort of…happened. He was able to go out and move freely in public now that his name had been cleared in the eyes of the Ministry. However, the majority of society hadn't changed, whatever the government said about the infamous Sirius Black, he would always be the man who had murdered thirteen people.

"Know? About her Animagus form? How could I?" Sirius tapped his fingers on the glass but did not drink. "I mean, yes, when she and her younger brother came to stay last Christmas, he couldn't stop showing off, but I never imagined that it ran in the family."

"Could it be a coincidence? I mean, you thought you saw him-"

"I know I saw him," Sirius said firmly. "You remember how he was, how every word was specifically crafted for whomever he was speaking to, like a bloody mind-reader… There's no mistaking him for anyone else. Roman's alive, and now there's someone else at this school who could have a clue or connection to him."

Remus raised a hand placatingly. "We don't know for certain. She's only 16, she wasn't even alive when-"

"-actually, she's a year older than Harry, so 17. Which means she was alive when he disappeared. Granted, she was nothing more than a baby, but my instincts are screaming that something's not right. We have to confront her!" Sirius tossed back his drink, silver eyes alight with a newfound determination.

"What would you even to say to her?" Remus asked skeptically. "'Hullo, Lian is it? You wouldn't happen to know my long-lost-thought-to-be-dead-cousin now would you?'"

"I was thinking more along the lines of, 'Do you know a man by the moniker Roman?'"

"And when she says no-"

"-she could say yes-"

"-then what?" Remus sighed. "I mourned him. We all mourned him. If he faked his own death, what the hell has he been doing for the last 17 years?"

Sirius shrugged, pouring himself another drink. "Sunbathing in Morocco?"

Remus resisted the urge to throw something at his back. "Is that what you'd do if you faked your death?"

"No, I'd take you and Harry along."

"Oh that's better," he replied sarcastically.

"Look, we know that Lian's Animagus form is a lioness with five-legs, right?"

"The technical term is a wampus cat I believe-"

"Right?" Sirius repeated loudly.

"Yes."

"And when we learned the Patronus spell with Professor Watercress, only a few people were able to pull it off that first lesson. Lily, James, and-"

"Roman, I know I was there," Remus growled. "First time I couldn't perfect a spell."

"And what was his patronus?" Sirius asked pointedly.

"…A lioness."

"With?"

"Five legs, I know, but Sirius it doesn't make sense! What does Lian have to do with your cousin?"

"I don't know, but we can't just ignore the evidence."

Remus rolled his eyes so hard his head moved as well. "Evidence of what? What are you saying?"

Sirius got to his feet, inhaling to say something profound, that could shake their perspective of reality to its very core. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."

Remus sent a tripping jinx at him, feeling a little bit better when he fell flat on his back. "Just don't scare the girl. For all we know, she's unrelated. Don't forget, she's an American. The only connection to Roman his a form she didn't choose for herself. And," he added as Sirius struggled back to his feet. "She only has five legs as an animal because she sacrificed her arm, for you."

Sirius went quiet, moving to the window to get a look at the castle grounds. There wasn't a blade of grass he and his friends hadn't stepped on during their time at Hogwarts. No stone unturned and all that tosh… As he let his eyes lose focus he thought back to that battle in June, and though all the details were wrong, when Lian Kowalski had stepped in front of Bella's spell…

"You weren't in the room when it happened. You were helping the rest, but in the moment…I know it was her, a girl I barely know, but…"

"She reminded you of him, didn't she?" Remus said knowingly. "He always liked to defy Bellatrix if I remember correctly."

"Or prove her wrong, yes…" Sirius sighed and turned back to his friend and the firelight. "I know it sounds crazy. I know that there's every chance that one has nothing to do with the other…"

Remus was already nodding. "True. But if there's a chance, even a small one-"

"-then we have to follow it." Sirius finished for him, glancing to the framed picture on the desk. It had been taken at Lily and James' wedding; he, Remus, Roman and Peter had hoisted James aloft in their arms for fun. Lily was standing off to the side, laughing hysterically. Peter had been slightly edged out of frame, but that had been the last time Sirius had seen Roman smile… He'd do anything to see him one more time. "No matter where it leads."

* * *

Two weeks into October, and Adam was starting to get into the swing of things. Whatever class he didn't share with Lian he did share with Hermione Granger, and he made a game of trying to answer questions before she could. He even kept track of their 'scores' in his head. On occasion he wouldn't know the answer straight away, but he would high five the Gryffindor to give himself time to figure it out. The first time he did this she looked absolutely flabbergasted. ("What was that for? I can't feel my fingers!")

As for his house, they were finally starting to accept him. Adam suspected their initial hesitance was based on the fact that when asked about himself he answered bluntly, yet honestly. While they respected this, it also scared them witless with how blasé he was about it.

After the last full moon, when asked what he'd come down with--his roommates had seen him passed out in his bed for nearly two days and assumed he was ill--he'd replied, "I wasn't sick. I'd been up for 24 hours straight, 9 of which I spent in the forbidden forest."

Ernie, who had asked him the question initially, gave a nervous laugh. "Right, but really?"

"Yeah. Couldn't very well spend those 9-10 hours in the castle, though I was tempted."

A few eavesdroppers in the common room began to close in, no longer dropping eaves but throwing them down and settling around the armchair Adam happened to be occupying. "What was so special about that night that you couldn't be inside?" asked Hannah.

"I didn't want to scare anyone, I only just got here." Adam replied coyly.

Before Hannah could pursue that line of thought, another girl, Susan asked, "Why are your eyes normally like green hazel but last week they were yellow?"

"Gold," Adam corrected her. "And when the moon is in its ninetieth to a hundredth percentile my more wolfish characteristics tend to show."

"Where'd you get this scar?" a first year asked, pointing to his right arm.

"My brother and I got into a bit of a fight over the summer and River has always favored his fangs to the point of excessiveness." A quick glance around at the listeners told Adam about half of them were starting to realize what he had to be, while the rest were blatantly oblivious. Deciding it was as good a time as any to rip the band-aid off, he said, "I mean, you're all okay with having a werewolf for a teacher. What's the difference?"

Everyone who had been raised listening to horror stories about Lycanthropes or heard the name Fenrir Greyback instantly withdrew from him in that moment. Susan actually screamed and ran for the girls' dormitory, closely followed by a few others. Ernie had gone very white and seemed to be torn between a desire to raise the alarm and to stay very still in case sudden movements would trigger Adam enough to transform.

He let the matter rest, and spent the next few days very aware of their eyes on him in the hallways, wondering when he'd lose control and sprout fur and claws. He could hear his roommates practicing stinging jinxes under their breaths, going so far as to sleep with their wands stowed in their pajama sleeves or under their pillows. Having been through this before at Ilvermorny, though with a little less hostility, he acted no differently here than there. He kept up with his schedule, threw himself into his homework until he was best, because if he knew anything about wizards and witches; it was that they were less afraid of you if they understood you. If they could label him as a bookworm, they would soften. If they could see him as smart in class and efficient in work, they would relax. If they could see he was just as magically inclined as any of them, they would accept him in time. Thought admittedly, he had much less time here than he did at Ilvermorny--Matteo had _just_ started to speak to him again.

It was Hannah Abbott who melted first. They were paired together in Herbology and he moved in front of her so she wouldn't get splattered by undiluted bubotuber pus. As his forearm broke out in large yellow boils, Professor Sprout dismissed him to the hospital wing at once. About an hour later, Hannah found him in their next class to ask if he was okay.

"You didn't have to do that," she sniffed. "I can take a hit."

"I know you can," he nodded in earnest. "But if you had taken the blow I figured you'd have sent the venomous tentacula down on my head for not being more careful. So really, I was protecting myself from you."

She scrutinized him for half a minute before she laughed. "You've got that right."

In a way, she was the snowflake that led the avalanche. The very next day, Justin Finch-Fletchley was asking him for tips on his Charms work, while Leanne McGregor offered to show him how to get into the kitchens. ("In case you want a snack while you do homework.") Even Ernie formally said that he couldn't judge Adam based on something he couldn't help, at which point Adam figured they were ready for the whole story.

"Do you remember the night you were bitten? How'd it happen?" Rolf decided to ask one Friday night in the crowded common room. At this, several curious or apprehensive faces turned to look at where Adam sat near the fireplace.

"C'mon Scamander, that's too personal-" one of the seventh years began to say, but Adam waved his hand.

"It's okay, it's a valid question. I only wish I could give a satisfactory answer, unfortunately I can't."

"You don't remember?" Malone asked wide-eyed.

"Or maybe he blocked it out of his mind," Rivers said . "Too horrible to think about."

"Neither," Adam said before anyone could speculate further. "I wasn't actually bitten. I was born of my parents, the same as you all I assume, and just as Susan Bones inherited her red hair from her father, I inherited my lycanthropy from my mother."

Dead silence met this announcement, and Adam bet that many of them were hoping he would add, 'Just kidding!' When he did not, he could easily spot the faces of those who wanted to kick him out of the common room. More than he expected, to be honest.

"Huh," grunted Zacharias Smith from where he lounged on the sofa. "I didn't know that was an option." He scratched his chin with the tip of his quill before crossing out a mistake on his essay. "For everyone on the quidditch team, don't forget about practice tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's the Hogsmeade visit!" Tamsin Applebee complained. She'd been a chaser for the past few years and creamed the competition in tryouts this year.

"It was the only time I could book the pitch!" Zacharias snapped. "The bleeding Slytherins have all but taken up residence on the field and when they're not there, Potter and his crew takeover."

"So give the day to the Ravenclaw team, and we'll take over next week," Cadwallader suggested hopefully. Adam had spotted him blushing while talking to McGregor earlier that week and suspected they'd made plans for tomorrow.

Zacharias glanced at Adam before replying, "Don't think that's such a good idea. I'd rather practice with all the team members in the air. If I could get Slytherin to surrender their Monday practice to us, maybe, but otherwise: tomorrow, bright and early!"

Adam cleared his throat. "If I can arrange that, will you let it go?" He appreciated the gesture from Zach, (and the subtle divergence of focus) but he wouldn't start wolfing-out until early on Wednesday morning of next week.

"How exactly do you plan to do that?" asked Tamsin skeptically.

"I'll ask nicely," Adam smiled widely. "And if that doesn't work," his benign smile vanished abruptly. "I'll ask again."

The next morning he found Lian sitting with Draco Malfoy the next morning at breakfast, and straddled the bench to join them. Malfoy shot him a look of complete dislike, mixed with a healthy dose of incredulity. "How many times do you have to hear it, Quince--the Hufflepuff table is over there!"

"Yes, I'm well aware, thank you," he shrugged it off and looked through Mr. Pale-Blond-and-Cranky to Lian who was enjoying her toast. "Question for the Quidditch captain."

"I'm the Captain!" Malfoy said loudly.

"Are you? I had no idea," Adam gave him a surprised look before focusing again on Lian, who was hiding a grin in her toast.

"What's up?"

"Hey-"

"The Hufflepuff team needs Monday night for practice," Adam began, still addressing Lian, who tilted her head around Malfoy, who was turning his head between them as though watching a riveting tennis match between his shoulders.

"Slytherin's sighed up for Monday, I believe," Lian replied thoughtfully.

“Yes, but you’ve had almost a month of consistent practice--they’ve only managed a couple of practice times. Surely, an elite team such as yours can afford a night off.”

“Stop talking to her, I’m the bloody captain!”

“I don’t know, Quince,” Lian said briskly. “It’s called consistent practice for a reason.”

Adam gave her a patronizing stare before he switched languages. “Mon chéri, auriez-vous la bonté d'accorder à l'équipe de Poufsouffle la pratique du lundi soir?”

Lian blinked, before she came right back with, “Ecoute, loup-garou, ça va te coûter pour que cela soit réalisé. Vous devrez peut-être corrompre le capitaine. Le visage de la pauvre chose est devenu rouge.”

Malfoy’s face was actually nearly maroon by that point. “JE PEUX PARLER FRANÇAIS!”

Adam squinted at Lian. “お願いします？” Using the only word in Japanese he knew.

Lian laughed. “ちょっと待ってください,” she turned to a rather disgruntled Draco Malfoy with an appeasing look in her eye. “Can you be bribed?”

“Kowalski,” he growled.

“Can you be persuaded?” She tried again, likely against her better judgement. “S'il vous plaît? pour les petits Poufsouffles?”

Draco puffed out his chest, before finally replying, “Je suis le capitaine. Laisse-le me demander.” He then slowly turned to look at Adam, trying and failing to keep his intimidating demeanor. To be fair, it would have worked if Adam hadn't been at least half a foot taller than him. “Well?”

Adam looked a question at Lian who mouthed a word before he spoke. Clearing his throat, he enunciated so loudly the merfolk could have heard him. “What’s this? Captain Draconequus Resting-Git-Face Malfoy wants to trade practice times with Captain Zacharias Edmund Smith esquire? How shall you answer, Mister Smith?”

Watching the exchange, like the rest of the hall, Zach nodded mutely.

“Your offer is MOST WELCOME, _Capitaine_.” Adam smirked at the look on Malfoy’s face, and removed himself before the angry little Brit could recover.

He circled back after breakfast to get ahold of Lian before she could retreat to the dungeons, a labyrinth that contained the Slytherin common room somewhere in its dark and lonely corridors. "Were you planning on visiting this Hogsmeade place?"

She turned with a rather apologetic expression on her face and before he could feel more than concern he felt his arms and legs pin to his side like he'd been bound by invisible duct tape and proceeded to fall backwards, but then he was levitating, jinxed and upside-down.

"Serve you right," Draco Malfoy was back, his voice cold as he moved into Adam's admittedly rotating view.

"Now, why didn't I think of that," a quiet voice said, and then Skinny Brit showed himself. Adam squinted at Lian wonderingly. Had he apologized or had she gone soft?

"No, I was gonna stay in the castle," Lian shrugged, talking as though nothing and no one had intervened. "Why?"

Trying not to think about McGregor and Cadwallader skipping off into the distance, Adam shrugged as best as he could. "It's just…I've heard a lot about the village and thought it might be neat and you know how I prefer to travel in groups," he finished with a wink.

Skinny Brit visibly stiffened, his hand in his pocket, probably gripping his wand. Lian didn't pay him any attention, in fact she was ignoring him completely. _So, he hasn't apologized and she's not soft. Good_. "I had plans to study with Draco today," she said, nodding at the silver-haired capitain.

"What?" Skinny gasped. "Were you planning on including me or-" he shut up suddenly as Lian shot him a sideways glare. _Atta girl_.

"I was going to help you later," Angry offered out the corner of his mouth.

"You're a shit teacher, no way," Skinny shook his head. "Lian, please-"

In the blink of an eye her wand had been drawn, jabbed at Adam to set him free, she'd taken the collar of his shirt and marched towards the double doors. "What the hell, I could do with some fresh air."

Just to add insult to injury, Adam saluted Angry Brit and Skinny Brit as he followed after Lian out into the sunlight. _Boy, if looks could kill_ …


	10. Apologies and Keepers

"What did you do?"

I frowned at the question, particularly its accusatory tone. "Why do you assume it was my fault?"

"Because Kowalski's an extremely tolerant person. The other day I caught her talking to Crabbe and Goyle like they could think for themselves. You're the one with communication issues, so again," Draco raised his eyebrows pointedly as I began to protest, "What. Did. You. Do?"

Aware that I was talking to the boy who'd actively helped Professor Snape get Professor Lupin fired back in the day, I said, "I told her she had to stop hanging around Quince," Draco laughed derisively, "because he's a werewolf."

Draco stopped laughing at once. "WHAT?"

"Apparently the staff already knows, and she's known basically since they met, and she still claims he's not dangerous, and got angry when I tried to tell her otherwise."

He nodded, his eyes still alight with panic. "And then she told you to stuff it and that's why she's avoiding you."

I sighed heavily. "She wants me to prove I understand what werewolves 'go through' or something…which you know I can't do."

He grimaced in sympathy. "Sorry mate. There's other girls though-"

"What are you talking about?" I said, confused.

"Well you don't think you're wrong, and she knows she's not wrong, so I guess that's that." He shrugged. "Good thing you've been set up with Daphne since we were all toddlers. She's petrified of werewolves, too."

"My parents are dead, whatever they arranged no longer holds sway with me," I retorted. I'd forgotten he knew about any of that--Daphne and I liked to pretend the 'arrangement' had never happened, and we were very happy in our denial. A little too happy, if she was exchanging love letters with Jason King. I wondered if she was aware of his blood status, or lack thereof; not that I was one to talk. I, the last son of a sacred 28 family, falling for the daughter of a squib, granddaughter of a muggle.

"Right, but if anything she's a good back up plan," Draco said bracingly.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

"Do you plan on making things right with Kowalski and Quince?"

"What does he have to do with anything?" I asked moodily. "I'd sooner push him in the black lake."

He rolled his eyes. "What if I told you that we'd been found out? That we actually have no intentions of following the Dark Lord, and he'd spare my life if I killed you for him?"

A little shocked at how easily the idea spilled from his lips, I said, "You wouldn't dare."

"But I'd be forgiven if I killed you. My mother would be safe from his wrath and any other repercussions. You don't have anyone, anyway." Draco raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. "You'd be okay with that, wouldn't you?"

"Of course not, I'd kill you first," I answered furrowing my brow. "What are you on about?"

"Theodore, you'd never betray me and I you--which is probably the kind of boat Kowalski and Quince share, understand?" I sat there, stunned that Draco Lucius Malfoy had outsmarted me. Sure, he was clever, but I'd never been on the receiving end of his wits. What's more, he wasn't finished: "So, you try to insert yourself between such friends, and of course you are ejected. I know why you hate werewolves mate, but keep this up and Kowalski's going to start hating you."

"Why, though?" I asked, desperate for one last chance that I could be right and for once she could be in the wrong. I was getting tired of apologizing to her all the time. "And how do you have such a level head about all this?" I demanded. "My friend Draco used to hate werewolves nearly as much as myself. What's changed?"  
He grabbed the book from off his bedside table and tossed it at me. After a miserable catch, which involved my hands, arms and part of my stomach, I saw the title, _Lupus est Natus, et Veneficus._

"It means The born wolf and the wizard," Draco explained. "The wording is a bit thick, given the time it was written, but it describes an encounter Merlin had with a werewolf who wasn't bitten, rather born with the curse."

"So even Merlin called it a curse?" I said quickly, but he was already shaking his head. "Now what?"

"He was conducting a study on muggleborns-" I gasped because I'd never heard him use that term before but he ignored me "-and chose to compare their situation to werewolves who were born like that. Even in Merlin's time, werewolves had to hide away and were seen as the dirt and grime of the magical world. The people who were infected via bite, a few had sympathy for but anyone who was bred was scorned, neglected and in some places, hunted. Then he changed his tune and compares born werewolves to purebloods."

"Huh?"

"I know, but listen: born werewolves and purebloods were taught to believe (in their own, respective circles) that they were better just because they happened to be born a certain way; something they themselves had no choice, or control over. If purebloods had been taught from the time we could hear that we were scum, we'd probably believe it."

I was quiet for a little while, trying to decipher what he was getting at before replying. “But, I don’t hate werewolves because of what I was taught, I hate them for what they’ve done.”

Draco nodded in understanding. “Yes but I think what Kowalski wants you to understand is that Quince hasn’t hurt you or anyone, and you assuming that he’s dangerous and deadly and wants to hurt everyone he knows is false. She’s a bit preachy like that.”

“A bit?” I repeated skeptically.

“You’re the one who fancies her,” he retorted, a triumphant smirk on his face. "So, what are you going to do?"

* * *

We checked the popular spots in Hogsmeade first; well I checked, Draco swaggered along in my wake grinning at my predicament. We met up with Blaise and Pansy in Honeydukes, and found Daphne dragging Astoria out of Zonko's. ("It's not proper for a young lady to be buying dungbombs!") It was only after a surreptitious glance into Madam Puddifoots that Blaise decided to mention he'd seen the enormous Hufflepuff duck into the Three Broomsticks awhile back. Glowering at him through my fringe, which had been sprinkled with an unnecessary amount of glitter thanks to the Madam's decoration over the door, I marched down the main thoroughfare to the pub, intent on charging on inside until Daphne, really the only decent female friend I had present, took pity on me and brushed most of the glitter out of my hair. ("There's a difference between humbled and humiliated.")

The pub was fit to burst with students, teachers and villagers alike. I couldn't even see Madam Rosmerta through the crowd of bodies, but for once I was grateful for the Canadian's unnatural height. He wasn't sitting down, he had rested his hands on the back of Lian's chair as she sat with her elbows on the table, talking seriously with Harry Potter, his friends, and several others from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Many were standing, it seemed only a very few had been able to find a chair, but through the tumultuous roar of general merriment and constant movement between the bar and the tables, they could have been easily ignored. I suppose that had been the point. If only they'd hosted the initial DA meeting in here last year, no one would've ever known about- _Oh_.

Slipping through the crowd like a shadow, I was able to come close enough to hear what Harry was saying to his assembled 'troops'.

"…just asked Professor McGonagall, and she said that circumstances were going to be different for this year."

"Well of course," the Hufflepuff with a face not unlike Draco's usual sneer said pompously. I think his name was Smith. "We don't have to hide our activities from a psychotic toad from the Ministry."

Several people laughed and murmured in agreement. Harry smiled wanly. "True, but unfortunately we'll need the permission to conduct a study group this large from the professor teaching the subject we're studying."

A younger Gryffindor boy, might have been a Creevy, said, "Professor Lupin won't mind!"

"But Snape would say no just to spite us," Weasley added sourly. "I bet you anything."

"He might not," Lian piped up. "You just have to get the right person to ask him." Harry gave her a very hopeful look, at which point she shook her head. "Well, not me. He doesn't hate me but I am probably the most impertinent Slytherin he's ever met."

 _So painfully true_.

"Are they talking about that club Umbridge broke up last year?" Draco muttered beside me, and I nodded. I didn't see his face, but I did see him move past me to stand at the table, myself and the rest of the Slytherins in tow. The occupants surrounding the table, the people sitting down, all of them with the exception of Lian and Quince glared, frowned, or looked scared at this sudden interruption and invasion. Draco spoke clearly, his gaze locked on Harry Potter. "I can get Professor Snape's permission for you…on one condition."

"Hermione's not doing your homework for you!" Weasley snapped, a lanky arm rising in front of Granger as if to defend her or hold her back; it was difficult to tell at this distance.

Draco sent him a patronizing glance but waited for Harry to speak. A year ago he'd have baited Ron Weasley until the maroon-faced fool took a swing or did something equally damming to get him in trouble.

Harry was frowning, trying to keep the hate out of his eyes but to his credit, it was at least six years of hate. You couldn't get rid of that in a few seconds. Glancing at Quince, I knew that more than anyone.

"What is it?" Harry asked at long last, barely able to keep the bite out of his voice.

Draco cocked his head back, and I knew without checking that he had the smuggest expression on his face. "You have to let us, and any other Slytherins into this study group."

Many of the old DA members shouted their rejection of the very idea. Hermione, Harry and Ron looked stunned, for their part; Lian was gazing up at Draco with pride.

"There's no way that's gonna happen!" Finnegan, the boy who was always blowing things up, cried from where he stood behind Ron.

"And why not?" Lian challenged, but her voice was steady as she looked at the Gryffindor. "You'd rather ditch the entire concept altogether instead of breaking a social stereotype?"

"What would they want to learn defense against dark magic for anyway?" A Ravenclaw boy, pretty sure his name was Corner, demanded. "Half of them were raised to-"

"To what, Michael?" Daphne asked. The Ravenclaw looked shocked that she'd addressed him by his first name. "If you're all of the belief that my first word was a dark curse, let me assure you it was actually 'moon'. Astoria's was 'yucky' but that was more of a-"

"Daph!" Astoria hissed, pinching her arm.

Some of the protestors had deflated at their exchange. Sensing this, Blaise declared, "My mother's never supported You-Know-Who. She's always taught me against his vision. Just because we share a house doesn't mean we share a mind."

Harry winced at that, but I couldn't be sure why. More of the old DA members were nodding at his words, but many remained unconvinced. I cleared my throat, "The dark arts have ruined my life forever. A Death Eater executed my mother after she got sick," I glanced at Quince and Lian, wondering if she knew what I meant by 'sick'. "And another Death Eater killed my father last June. I don't plan to roll over and die like my parents, I want to be able to protect myself, and my friends."

Draco extended his hand to Harry. "Do we have a deal?"

Harry gave him a searching look, but unlike Lian, he did not possess the skill to read minds. "What about you? What do you get out of this?"

My oldest friend shrugged, simply stating, "I'm just tired of making friends with the wrong sort of people. No offense," he added to me, and the other four standing behind us.

There was a tense moment, and I predicted Harry would refuse. After the years of abuse our houses had thrown at one another, I wouldn't exactly blame him. The Boy Who Lived, the Chosen One, looked to his friends first. Hermione shrugged, and Ron shook his head slightly. He then did about the smartest thing he could've done in that moment of indecision and looked to the American in the room. She didn't nod or shake her head, she didn't make any gesture other than a smile.

I wondered then and I wonder to this day if she put a thought or word of reassurance in his mind. She never admitted to doing so, but I can't otherwise understand why Harry took Draco's hand that next heartbeat and shook it firmly. "Deal."

Minutes later as we walked up the street, Lian threw an arm around Draco's ribs and squeezed the air out of his lungs. "I have never been so happy to know you! Underneath all the sneers and sarcasm there's an intelligent person: who knew!?" then she made the rounds to the Greengrass sisters, Pansy, Blaise (who had been the only one other than Astoria to hug back) before she turned to face me. And she hesitated.

I raised my arms halfway, before dropping them down to my sides. "I'm sorry for the way I acted before."

Pursing her lips she asked, "Which part?"

I was very aware of everyone listening though they pretended to be very interested in the sign that read _Sold Out_ over a sale on salamanders in the nearby apothecary. At least Quince had the brass to look at us. Maybe that was a bad thing, but at least it proved my theory that he had no shame. In a flash of brilliance I turned to the werewolf and said, "I wanted to say I'm sorry for how I've behaved toward you, and for calling you a monster. That was wrong of me."

He grinned (dare I say) wolfishly. "Dude, I don't care if you call me names. I get called worse in my own home."

Lian nodded in affirmation. "He really does. From his own Alpha, no less."

Quince blinked. "Wait, how do you know that?"

She smiled knowingly. "Fuhgeddaboudit."

I cleared my throat to remind them I was there. "The point is, I've been feeling out of step since June and haven't felt like myself. And I think part of that stress came lashing out in the worst way and…" I trailed off, feeling entirely embarrassed and wanting nothing more than to sink into the cobbled street never to be seen again.

At least until Lian patted my shoulder. I felt a gushing relief flood through my veins and suddenly I didn't care that five of my oldest friends were standing with their backs turned and their ears perked curiously. I didn't care that one of Lian's oldest friends, who also happened to be a werewolf, was standing a few inches closer to her than I was. All that mattered was that she'd forgiven--wait, she had forgiven me right?

I looked a question at her and she nodded reassuringly. She really did know me, then. If she'd hugged me like the others I might've gone into a state of shock.

"Now then," she turned briskly to the five not-so-subtle eavesdroppers. "Draco, how do you plan to convince Professor Snape to agree to the DA?"

He turned as though in surprise that she was addressing him, and they led the group back up the street as though nothing had happened. "I was thinking of asking, but to be entirely honest the name has to go."

"What's wrong with Dumbledore's Army?"

"It served its purpose in defying Umbridge, but with us as a new addition then I think it should be given a new name."

Blaise snorted. "I don't think Potter will go for 'Draco's Army'."

He shrugged defensively. "Why? What's wrong with it?"

"They could call it 'Death Defenders'," Pansy suggested. "Kind of a stick it to the Death Eaters type of thing."

"That's a terrible name," Daphne disagreed, shaking her head. "Why would anybody feel the need to defend Death?"

"Why would a Headmaster need an Army? These people clearly don't use logic. We're just in time to save them from their own foolishness," Pansy said loftily, and Lian never explained to her why she'd started to laugh.

As we walked back up to the castle, I glanced down at Lian's hand more than once and felt an urge to take it, like I'd done on impulse right before the battle in the bowels of the Ministry. As the group walked close to the Whomping Willow, I looked towards the tree for only a second, but a second was all it took.

See, I'd been practicing, training myself to clear my mind before bed, when I awoke, before or after I did homework--just little ways and random times to try and strengthen my pitifully open mind. As I looked towards the tree, I thought for a single second that it was night time, that the grounds were covered with snow, and for three heartbeats I could've sworn I heard someone crying for help.

But then the moment had passed and I was staring at a tree in the middle of fall, while my friends continued their march up to the castle. Only Quince had paused when I had…probably because he'd gone to intercept my taking Lian's hand. "You okay Skinny?"

I shook my head. "I think so…wait, what did you call me?"

He grinned at me again. "Skinny. Skinny Brit--you never actually introduced yourself to me so that's what I call you."

"My name is Theodore Nott." I said frowning.

"No I know what your name is, I've known since Karaoke night, but Skinny fits you better."

"I don't like it."

He clapped me on the back, nearly knocking me to all fours. "Yeah it'll grow on ya. Come on."

Feeling somewhat like a sheep I let him herd me towards the castle after Lian and the rest.

* * *

At the end of a particularly chilly practice, Draco called them over into a huddle for a few last-minute announcements. He was holding a piece of parchment in the hand that wasn’t nursing his collarbone--an injury for which none of the team would take the blame.

“There’s been a change to the match this weekend,” he said clearly, effectively silencing Blaise and Goyle’s argument over who stood on whose foot. “Gryffindor’s beaters clobbered each other during practice and they can’t find replacements in time, so we’re up against Hufflepuff instead.”

Urquhart and Astoria pounded the air with their fists. “Too easy!”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Blaise dryly. “Smith’s a brutal captain, and he made an entirely new line-up this year. Their try-outs was the stuff of nightmares, you could hear the second years crying from the library.” He crossed his arms. “From what I understand, they didn’t even fill all the positions the first time around.”

Astoria frowned at him, lowering her hands to her side. “Buzzkill.”

Lian glanced at the parchment Draco was holding. “What else does it say?”

“It’s the team line-up,” he said slowly. “And I’m questioning Smith’s choices.”

“Why?”

“The chasers are Smith, Applebee and Cadwallader; seeker is Summerby, and the beaters are two seventh years called O’Flaherty and Rickett…” he trailed off. Astoria looked thoughtful while he listed off names.

“I think Applebee’s in my year. I think. She might be a year older.”

Blaise moved to peer over Draco’s shoulder at the parchment and groaned softly.

“What? What is it?” Urquhart asked.

“The Keeper,” Blaise said through gritted teeth.

“What about them?”

“Put it this way,” said Draco. “Depending on the way he rides his broom, he could block all three goals without moving.”

Lian bit her tongue to keep from saying something she'd regret later. “Great.” _Curse his competitive genes_!

* * *

The morning of the quidditch match dawned bright and beaming, not that the Slytherins knew until they crept out of the dungeons to join the living. The Quidditch team entered and joined their table in the hall amidst howls and cheers from their supporters clad in green. Pansy and Daphne had awoken early to paint the faces of anyone that wanted it. They'd gotten Lian before she'd awoken, so she now sported black and silver eyeliner which wasn't too bad, but she thought the dark green lip stain was crossing a few lines.

When the Hufflepuff Quidditch team arrived and nearly everyone else in the hall erupted into applause, Lian tried to not take it personally. She looked for Adam amidst the yellow chaos but wasn’t terribly surprised when she couldn’t find him. Tonight was going to be a big night for him, after all. If he was smart, he’d be sleeping in this morning. Lupin seemed to be--he was absent from the staff table, though his seat was not empty. Taking his place, and unnoticed by the excitable crowd, was Sirius Black. He was chatting pleasantly with McGonagall and Hagrid, talking animatedly with his hands. For the briefest of moments, he glanced towards the Slytherin table and locked eyes with Lian. She felt completely frozen as she stared into his silver eyes, but then the moment had passed and he’d looked away.

He’d probably come for the Quidditch match, and nobody told him Gryffindor wasn’t playing. _Well technically he’d come for Lupin,_ Lian thought pragmatically. _But that won’t be until moonrise._

“Hey,” Theo captured her attention from where he sat across the table. “Good luck.”

She smiled confidently. “Thanks.”

“Come on,” Draco called to the team. He led them out of the hall to a chorus of boos from the other three houses. The whole house, decorated with their black, silver and green war paint glared back intimidatingly, but otherwise did not retaliate. The effect was worth it, Lian thought as she took note of the looks of fear that crossed the majority of faces.

They changed in silence, no banter or criticism passing their lips: it was game time.

Standing on the field they awaited the opposing team, and also the crowd as the stands began to fill out. It was the first game of the season, so most of the school was bound to show up. Finally, the seven players clad in yellow marched out onto the field, and among them was a strapping, six foot seven, wild haired, golden eyed _loup-garou._

While Madam Hooch listed off the rules and the teams stared each other down, Adam grinned across at her, and she spotted fangs where his canines were supposed to be. Focusing her ability she thought, _Are you crazy?_ into his head.

He flicked his tongue over the offending teeth and thought, _It's possible_.

Draco and Zacharias shook hands, or rather, tried to break each other's knuckles. Afterwards they mounted their brooms and took up their positions in the air. On the whistle, Lian shot forward and claimed the quaffle before Smith could. Cradling the ball between her ankles she pulled a spiral dive to avoid him and Applebee, before passing it off to Blaise who took off around the edge of the pitch to dodge a bludger from Rickett.

That’s around the time Lian registered the commentator, who had a rather dreamy and vague voice that could only belong to one person. “This is looking to be an exciting game, even though the Gryffindor’s came down with a case of Flutterby Phalange.” said Luna Lovegood over the megaphone. Lian gave the commentators box a look and saw Professor McGonagall looking nervous about this decision. “Here come Blitz Sanguini up to the new Keeper from Hufflepuff. He’s really tall, I wonder how his broom keeps him airborne. . .” the crowd below was laughing, both at Luna’s slaughtering of Blaise’s name, and her diagnosis of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Lian sped up the field to get a better look at Blaise’s shot. He feinted left and aimed right, the quaffle sailed beautifully through the air when Adam’s hand appeared out of nowhere and caught it. He threw it to one of his teammates immediately, and Lian swerved to give pursuit, meanwhile her brain was still registering what she’d just seen. He’d caught the quaffle single-handedly. . .

 _We’re doomed._ A part of her whispered. _He's big, quick and he's got a supernatural advantage. We're oh so doomed_.

“. . .now that big Hufflepuff player's got the quaffle, I can't remember his name, it's something like Bibble - no, Buggins-"

"It's Cadwallader!" said Professor Mcgonagall loudly from beside Luna. The crowd laughed. Lian raced up the field and soared alongside Cadwallader, knowing perfectly well that he’d drop the quaffle if she punched it from out of his arm--but she’d tried that last year against Ravenclaw and she’d earned a foul. Goyle smacked a bludger at Cadwallader, who ducked but dropped the quaffle where Urquhart, who was flying below, was able to seize it. In unison, she and her fellow chaser shot into the air and climbed several feet before flipping back and zooming up the pitch again. Lian flew guard for Urquhart, which meant that if either Rickett or O’Flaherty tried to hit the chaser in possession, she’d take the attack to keep the other chaser free to score.

 _WHOOSH!_ Sure enough, a bludger from O’Flaherty came careening through the air toward Urquhart. Lian swerved to take the hit, and it crashed into her right arm, before it zoomed away again. The crowd shouted below, and she knew that several of them had to be shocked that she would willingly take a direct hit, but to be honest she didn’t feel a thing. She glanced at her metal arm to make sure it wasn’t dented or horribly disfigured, before turning to watch Urquhart make the first goal. Adam had drifted off to one side to watch her, see if she was alright.

. . .which gave her a terrible idea.

“I don’t think the bludger actually hit her, you know there’s a man who invented a broom that has a shield charm upon it--which sounds like a good idea initially but then nobody could mount the broom because they kept bouncing off of the charm. . .” Luna was telling the crowd, while McGonagall leaned over to announce the score.

“Ten-zero, to Slytherin!”

“You alright?” Draco called as they flew alongside each other briefly. “That hit had to break something.”

Lian flashed her silver wrist at him. “I’m fine.”

Grinning, he shot away in pursuit of the Snitch. Lian caught up to Smith and blocked him from making a goal against Astoria. Blaise swooped in and stole the quaffle, becoming Rickett’s next target. Lian dived, attempting to make it in time, but Crabbe beat her to the punch, literally, and whacked the bludger toward Adam.

“Nice shot!” she called to him as she flew past, catching the quaffle as Blaise performed a Reverse Pass, where he tossed the quaffle over his shoulder at her. She had Smith, Cadwallader and Applebee shooting towards her, so she took off in a Woollongong Shimmy. Reaching the goal posts relatively unhindered, she charged directly towards Adam, whose golden eyes grew larger the closer she came.

“I think Lian’s forgotten how to play Quidditch, she’s headed straight for the Keeper, showing no intent of throwing or passing the ball. Maybe they’re about to do something American--though I think someone said Adam was from Canada. I wonder which sport is more popular in wizarding Canada, because the muggles play this mad game on ice called-oh!” Luna gasped along with the rest of the crowd at what happened next.

Within inches of a collision, Lian stopped her brooms momentum abruptly, while the end rose up and flipped her forward, until she was hanging by her right hand from her broomstick alongside the Hufflepuff Keeper. The quaffle was no longer in her possession, as she’d thrown it into the middle goalpost midway through the flipping process. Once this registered with the onlookers and the team members, the Slytherin supporters went wild.

“ARE YOU INSANE!?” Adam roared at her. He watched as she hauled herself back onto her broom, smirking in satisfaction. “Don’t look so pleased, there’s no way that’ll work again!”

“No,” Lian agreed with a nod. “But there are other things I’m willing to try.” She took off into the air, leaving him a bit on edge. _Serve him right for playing in his condition._ If he'd been playing in normal circumstances, his wolf side wouldn't be so overly concerned about her safety, which was causing him to be distracted where she was concerned.

The game lasted another half hour, the chasers wrestling over the quaffle for any and every opportunity to score a point. Astoria saved most of them, except for a few well aimed shots from Smith; while Adam saved every shot that Lian wasn’t involved with--a pattern that the whole pitch picked up on rather quickly. Luna alternated between actually commenting on the players, to different things she’d noticed about today, including but not limited to the weather. McGonagall kept them up to date with the score though, and Hufflepuff led by a small margin.

“Sixty; fifty, to Hufflepuff!” was the most recent announcement when finally, it happened. With a sudden swerve of his broom, Malfoy seemed to punch the air, before withdrawing something small and gold from his left sleeve.

“Oh, is it over already?” Luna asked into the megaphone, as the whole of the green clad supporters erupted. Lian fell into formation with her team, as they made a victory lap over the stands before heading in for a landing. Already, several of their supporters had run out onto the field to meet them. Lian spotted Daphne brandishing a banner emblazoned with the phrase, _My sister’s a Keeper!_ Daphne tackled her younger sister in a fierce hug, dropping the ladylike exterior for a precious moment. Many people clapped her on the back, someone called her invincible, Pansy and Millie both gave her a bone crushing hug.

“I thought you were dead, many times in the last hour I was convinced you’d died!” Daphne yelled to Lian from where she stood suffocating Astoria.

“It’d take a lot more than a bludger to take her down,” said Theo, who had been a victim to Pansy’s war paint path. Lian laughed at the sight of him with scales all over his cheeks. “She was flying faster than sight in some parts--Hufflepuff never stood a chance.”

“We’re celebrating in the common room!” someone, probably Pansy, cried for all to hear. “Come on, let’s go!”

* * *

Lying in wait for her just outside of the locker room, not Theo or even Adam, but Sirius Black. Not having seen him up close in his human form since…well since the last time she'd had two flesh arms, Lian gave him an odd grimace. "Hello."

He smiled in a way that made her arm hairs stand on end. "You’re an excellent flier. Of course if you'd played against Gryffindor today you'd have lost, but," he shrugged. "That's neither here nor there. I wonder if I could steal you away from your victory for a quick word?"

 _Astounding_. He'd complimented, belittled and invited her in the same breath. Lian had half a mind to tell him off but her curiosity was stronger than her indignation. "I'll give you five minutes." And so she followed him away from the pitch. He walked like someone who had been taught manners, but no longer cared to display them. It was interesting to look at, Lian thought privately, with his hands clasped behind his back, head held high in pride but his shoulders slouched and he dragged his feet as he moved. She also imagined that whoever had taught him proper manners wouldn't care much for his butterbeer belly.

Not that she was one to judge; but while she'd never taken and etiquette class in her life, she'd always been taught to walk with conviction, as if she had a destination in mind, even if it wasn't true. The last thing a kid should do was walk around a big city like New York and appear to be lost.

She waited for him to speak first, even if he waited until they were standing in the shadow of the Forbidden forest before doing so. "I'm curious, what model broom do you use?"

Lian blinked. "I call it Sky Shatter." she answered simply, but didn't believe he'd led her all this way alone to exchange broom tips.

He raised his eyebrows, his expression thoughtful. "Never heard of that series before. Is it strictly sold in America?"

She shook her head. "It's not sold anywhere. I made it."

"You-?" he stopped still, eyes wide as he felt torn between disbelief and awe. She might've lowered her mental defenses the closer they walked to the dark forest. "How? When?"

Sensing there was a test in here somewhere, or maybe he just really wanted to know, she launched her explanation. "In shop class back in my third year. We were supposed to learn about how the manufacturers strip down broomsticks to inspect for mistakes, curses or some form of foul play. Halfway through the project I read a book on broom making and how they determine how fast a broom can ride, the stability required to keep the rider from being thrown off mid-flight, and the special effects a certain kind of wood can harness and release while in use. I practiced on a cleaning broom in my spare time and by the time I was done it was hardly recognizable. I mean, I had to surrender it to a professional study, to make sure it wasn't dangerous and fulfilled all the requirements for a legal broom model, but after that I was able to brand it and keep it for my own. I'm not allowed to sell until I graduate, and even then I'm supposed to get an apprenticeship somewhere, but all this to say, you can't have my broom."

Sirius Black pointed vaguely towards the empty pitch. "You made that…from a cleaning broom?"

Lian shook her head. "No, I only practiced with a cleaning broom. What you saw me use was carved and spelled by my own hand."

He scrutinized her for half a minute before saying, "Are you sure you're a Slytherin? Because you sound like a Ravenclaw I used to know."

"You mean like a hundred years ago when you rode to school on horseback?" she asked cheekily.

Black was rather offended by that. "It's been less than twenty years, for your information! A hundred…how old do you think I am?!"

She bit back a smile. "Not as old as you could be but not as young as you want to believe."

He considered wringing her neck, she saw it written all over his face, eyes and mind. Then he tossed back his head and barked out a laugh. "If you'd gone to school the same time as me, I'd have either adored you or hated you."

"Well I go to school with your Godson, so which is it?"

"Somewhere in the middle," he shook his head. "Listen, about the last full moon…" _I knew it_. "Your Animagus form is quite unique. Fact is, I don't think I've ever seen anyone with a magical beast as their counterpart…"

"Clearly you've never met a Native American or someone who studied at Uagadou." Lian crossed her arms and leaned her shoulder against the nearest tree trunk. "They know their stuff."

"Is that a fact?" Black replied absently. He didn't care that she could turn into a wampus, no he was curious for some other reason. His thoughts and memories churned before her, and it would be so easy to dive in but she was hesitant. She didn't want to risk going too deep into his mind; what if she got stuck in his prison memories? She shivered but he didn't notice. "Could I see your arm?"

Lian's more impish side was tempted to show him her right arm but she held up her left, rolling up the sleeve of her hoodie so he could get the full picture. The steel glinted dully in the sunlight as she flexed the fingers and wiggled the thumb at him, rolled the wrist and whatnot so he could comprehend the prosthetic limb in all its glory. He looked a question at her and she gave permission, so seconds later he was holding her arm, feeling its bare weight and shaking his head in wonder. She stayed quiet for a little while, before finally asking, "Are you curious about my animagus form or why I protected you back in the Ministry?"

Sirius Black winced at the mention of that pleasant experience. "Both. You're so young, far too young to have to face down that evil woman."

Lian felt a smile tugging at her lips as she said, "In America we'd call her an evil bitch." Sirius laughed.

"Honestly, though. By rights I should've died or been mortally wounded, or you could have suffered a worse fate then this," he shook her steel arm to emphasize his point. "I have been reflecting on it for months and I can't imagine why you'd bother to save, protect or defend a withered man who came to this school over a hundred years ago on horseback."

She shrugged in response to his eyes intently latching onto hers. "I could tell you it was instinct, but I doubt you'd believe me."

"You've an instinct to protect almost complete strangers?" he asked skeptically.

"From evil bitches, yeah." She watched him struggle quietly before finally saying, "Look, I've got a victory party to go to in the dungeons, which is surprisingly not the strangest sentence to exit my mouth. Whatever you really want to ask me, just say it or let me go back."

Black released a long exhale and ran a hand through his long hair. "If I'm wrong, then this won't make any sense…"

"Let's assume you're right, then."

"…Do you know…that is to say, have you ever met anyone by the name of Roman?" asked Sirius Black.

In several flashes she saw him walking towards her in the Alchemy wing at Ilvermorny. Saw him looming over her by the glowing lake. Felt him pull her back before a blast of fire consumed the space she was about to cross. Watched him standing on the edge of the roof with Gunner. Fished her out of a crowd of No-Majs and some very pissed off Scourers. Standing at her desk as she tackled him from behind.

Lian squinted and tilted her head in confusion. "Who?"

Black had kept a close eye on her expression and seemed dissatisfied with her reaction. "He's a tall bloke with dark hair, proud silver eyes and wears a load of black. He goes by the name Roman: ever met someone like that in all your life?"

The lie came as quickly, and as smoothly as the false reaction. Lian shrugged and shook her head, "Not that I can recall… Is he important?"

The wizard bit his tongue, trying to hide his disappointment. "He used to be. And I suppose it was a long shot to begin with…you can return to the castle. Thank you for speaking with me, Kowalski."

"Call me Lian," she replied simply, before turning her back on him and walking away. _Call me a Liar_.


	11. Changing Fate

The hourglass was a curious device. Since the mishap over the summer, she hadn't taken much time to inspect it's powers and ways she could use them. Still, it was a gift from the mysterious Roman, so proper precautions ought to be carried out, especially after Sirius Black's inquiries about him. Something about her animagus form connected her to Roman in Black's mind, and while she had an entire arsenal to discover exactly what or why that could be, Lian had made the conscious decision to hold off on anything drastic. By telling Black she knew nothing, she would wait and see if he did anything suspicious or surprising. Odds were, he'd give up the search and allow the matter to rest.

Or so she hoped.

Ever since she was a little girl, the boy she'd come to call Roman was always there to save her from something hazardous, and until June this year she'd thought of him as a kind of guardian angel. But with Black's knowledge of him, that illusion was shattered, and she was left feeling confused and on edge.

Which is why she nearly dropped the silver hourglass when Theodore and Draco banged the door open. She caught it between her thumb and her palm and felt a slight prick and a tugging sensation around her navel. She looked up just in time to notice that her allies hadn't seen her yet, only engrossed in their own conversation. With a soft pop, the Room of Requirement vanished and she was standing ankle deep in dark red sand.

Lian looked around and saw billowing clouds on the horizon, closing the distance with every millisecond. There was no shelter, nowhere for her to take cover or run; she withdrew her wand and conjured the first shield charm she could think of, _Ferrum testa!_

The sand around her feet rose up and formed a kind of shell around her, hardening and with a touch of Alchemy, changed into an iron defense. A single heartbeat later the sandstorm hit, and with it she heard a voice, a loud, incoherent but something she felt deep in her bone marrow kind of voice, beating against her defenses both physical and mental. It was over in an instant, and she was back in the Come-and-Go room a second later, Theodore and Draco crossed the threshold and shut the door behind them, oblivious to her own comings and goings…

“Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a more opportune moment,” Draco was saying with a slight shake of his head. “Had I listened to you all would be lost.”

Theo rolled his eyes behind Draco’s back, then spotted Lian crouched on one knee, her wand still held in a defensive position. “…Er, were you expecting someone else?”

She shook her head, stowing her wand in her belt loop as she settled into a more relaxed pose. “Sorry…for a second it felt like I was somewhere else…PTSD, I guess.” She’d stowed the hourglass in her robe pocket, using a slight of hand trick Giovanni had shown her years ago. They didn’t remember ever seeing it, nor should they remember the excursion to the past, but there had been moments in the past week where she’d catch one or both of them giving her an odd look.

"From what?" Draco asked unthinkingly. Theo gave him a daggering look before he settled down on the floor with Lian. "What? Post-Traumatic- _oh_ …" And then his pale cheeks went a shade of pink as he sat down.

"Before we begin," Lian cleared her throat, indicating that she didn't want to pursue the topic. "What was such an opportunity, Draco?"

"I finally got around to asking Professor Snape for his permission to allow the former study group known as the DA to continue this year."

"And?" Lian prompted, eyebrows raised.

"Well," Draco shrugged. "Our Head of House is a man of-"

"He said he'd think about it." Theo cut him off, his doubts of Snape giving approval to anything related to Harry Potter written all over his face.

"To be fair, he was intrigued by the conditions I'd proposed," Draco added quickly, trying to save what little face remained in Lian's eyes.

"I see," she said curtly. Harry had been trying to catch her eye all week, wanting to know if Draco had done anything, or if she'd tried, or if they were going to make him beg for Snape's permission on his own. It was lucky she was good at avoiding people, else she might've suffered an awkward conversation. "So you overestimated his fondness for you."

"No," Draco said stubbornly. "I underestimated his hatred of Potter."

Lian tilted her head in agreement. "You're not wrong. We'll figure that out later, for now let's-"

She was interrupted by the door banging open as that awful voice from the sandstorm rushed over them. Draco and Theo seemed to be oblivious to it, actually they weren't moving at all. The room shook around her as the dark, echoing roar tried to rattle her bones and break her mind, or so it seemed. The very air was filled with its pounding growl, yet no discernable words could be heard. A soft ringing in her ears grew louder and louder as the voice persisted until…

She woke up. At least, she thought she had, only something was wrong… She had been propped up against the wall, and the entire corridor was devoid of sound, or life. The only problem with that was the three people standing around her body. Adam towered over Draco and Theo, his expression intense as though one wrong word would set him off. Draco was sneering up at him, a hand raised in a dismissive gesture, likely to tell Adam that whatever was none of his business. Theo was standing closest to her but she couldn't see his face, as he was watching the werewolf and the ferret talk. But none of them moved, or even breathed. It was almost like she'd awoken in an alternate world where everyone was just a wax figure. Maybe the apes had finally taken over.

Lian got to her feet and moved around her three friends. She clicked her fingers in Theo's face a couple of times--he hated that normally, but he didn't even blink. He just kept frowning at the frozen exchange. She tried what she thought was a fool-proof plan to get Adam to break, but he didn't flinch either. Draco's feet and legs held fast when she tried to push him--like his entire body was locked and glued to the floor.

 _Okay. This is trippy_. Was she gaining new abilities through her Legilimency? Nothing like this had ever happened before, and she had never heard of anything of the kind happening to another Legilimens; though admittedly, she only knew two. And her kid sister didn't care to nurture the ability at all.

The entire castle began to shake again as though Hogwarts had suddenly become a hotspot for earthquakes. The voice came as though on a gust of wind, sweeping over and around Lian until her hair began to attack her face. Still, she couldn't distinguish a single word from an almost spooky groan. It was probably what Darth Vader sounded like when his filter was broken.

There was a pop and she was back on the floor, and everyone was moving, breathing again.

"--do anything! She just fainted!" Draco was saying to Adam impatiently. Clearly he didn't take well to being looked down upon, circumstantial or no.

“Then tell me what she was doing before she fainted!” Adam demanded.

“What business is that of yours?” Draco fired back as Lian thought, _Called it._

“Because I’ve seen her like this before and that’s why I know one of you did this to her-!”

Before he could break any potential ties, Lian sat up and sharply said, “It's not their fault, Adam, I was just meditating,” he turned his intense eyes on her, and she quietly marveled at how quickly they softened to their usual puppy-eyed concern.

Pushing past (or rather walking through) Draco and Theo to get as direct of an eye contact as possible he asked, “Did you see anything?”

Lian knew this question would sound strange to her allies, and to anyone else in the castle with the possible exception of one Harry Potter, and he had a connection to the evil freak running around and ruining everyone’s day. Lian had a connection with her Babcia, but she’d never seen what her grandmother was doing at random points or when she felt extremely emotional. To look into someone’s mind, Lian had always needed to at least be in the same room with a person. But Adam had seen her at her worst in Ilvermorny, when her ability was uncontrolled and wreaked havoc on her subconscious. That’s why he was adamant now, he suspected that Draco and Theo had overwhelmed her with some horrible thought or obsession, which they hadn't. Still, she had seen something strange, but it didn’t feel like a memory or vision…it was more like a creeping sense of déjà vu or possible madness. But until she could figure out exactly what was happening to her, she’d keep her mouth shut. "Yes. I saw someone dragging me unconscious through the hallways before discarding me to have pointless argument," she raised her eyebrows at her housemates. "Thanks guys."

"Theo carried you until the not-so-friendly giant turned up." Draco said quickly. "Mind telling us what's the matter with you?"

She could still hear the deep, guttural voice still roaring somewhere in her mind. It gave her chills even now. "When I don't keep my abilities in check they get the better of me and I'm rendered inert. I'm sorry if I scared you, but I'm really okay… where exactly were you taking me anyway?"

Theo shrugged. "The hospital wing." Even Adam cracked a smile at that as Lian gave a rueful chuckle. The dark haired Slytherin looked between them indignantly. "What?"

"Very few healers know what to do with me, let alone my abilities. Even at Ilvermorny where it was common knowledge, Healer Nesbit used to cry when I turned up for one reason or another." She accepted Adam's hand as he pulled her to her feet, not letting go until she was steady enough on her own. "But still, I appreciate the thought, thank you Theo." 

"Don't mention it," was the exact opposite of what he was thinking but Lian bit her tongue, allowing him to keep his dignity today.

If she hoped that was going to be a once in a while freak occurrence, Lian was in for a horrible term; the growling groan would follow her to mealtimes, to classes, to Quidditch Practice, to sessions with her allies, to study hall and finally to bed. She could hardly have her own thoughts anymore, as her frontal cortex was occupied by something that sounded like some kind of unending chant of the deeply disturbed. Maybe she was losing her mind, or maybe her Legilimency was on the fritz. Could it be possible? A curious thing about her situation, and this was part of the reason she didn't ask for help, (the rest being that she was stubbornly private,) was that the weird droning sound would pause every time she talked, or someone was talking to her. But after nearly three days of no sleep, and she'd snapped at Astoria for yawning too loudly, Lian knew she had to do something.

Professor Snape was in his office that Sunday morning, still in the dungeons, even though he'd taken up the mantle of DADA teacher. He called her in with a bored drawl, which gave her to know that he was grading fifth year essays.

"Evening sir," she said distractedly, as the door closing behind her sounded a little too much like the noise that was playing on repeat in her head. She caught her head of house glancing at the clock on his desk that said it was only one in the afternoon.

"Ms. Kowalski, if you've come to bother me about Potter's little rebellion-"

"What? No, what happens with that is entirely up to you, sir, I was actually wondering if you could help me with something…personal."

The quill he was using to cross out Collin Creevey's topic sentence paused as he raised his head to stare at her. His expression was either appalled or afraid, but she couldn't care about that; with the silence between them the voice was back on in her head. "Are you sure the person you shouldn't be talking to isn't Madam Pomfrey?"

"Not unless the school nurse is secretly studying Legilimency." Lian rolled her eyes as Snape's dark eyes changed from apprehension to relief. The difference was subtle but it was there. "I need you to listen in my head for a second."

Snape blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

Lian waved her hands impatiently. "I do not have time for your discomfort, just look into my mind please."

He stood and moved around his desk, his wand at the ready. "If you're quite sure… _Legilimens!_ "

That didn't take much convincing. Instead of resisting like every instinct told her to, Lian kept her mind wide open as the spell washed over her. _She was back at Ilvermorny, punching Perry Thompson in the nose for calling her 'Jules'. Adam had to hold her back before she could hit him again, though the damage was done; she'd broken his nose in one go. She was in Kamau's class, drinking a potion she'd brewed for the third time while a thunderstorm raged outside the castle. Lightning struck one of the turrets just as she swallowed, and bent over, clutching her stomach and throat. Her body was breaking, twisting, changing. Her head spasmed as she grew fangs, her hands shook as they turned into thick, powerful paws. She grew more bones, she grew in size, in length, a tail sprouted out of her lower back and- She was sitting outside with Vera and Aisha, using only sign language to communicate so they could talk about Vera's crush on Adam without any eavesdroppers. Vera never resented the fact that he'd only ever had eyes for Lian, but much like the werewolf, she couldn't help the way she felt. Lian had always told her to pursue him anyway; since she knew her fate there was no point in giving him, or anyone for that matter, false hope. She was working with Uncle Newt in his London apartment, Jake had gotten stung by the kelpie so he was glaring at it from the top of the stairs. Fi was giggling as she played with the nifflers, but Lian was keenly interested in a bat/manta ray type creature Uncle Newt called Swooping Evil. His distracted eyes widened slightly when she asked if she could have it, and they were taken over with guilt when he told her no. Lian had been quick to recover, asking instead for the next dragon egg he came across. She was standing just inside her house in New York, early on the morning before she was to leave for Hogwarts for the first time. Her suitcase was packed and sat by the door, but she stood there in her Ilvermorny skirt and Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt, her wand tucked behind her ear. Her eyes were fixed on the family portrait hanging high on the wall. Most of its occupants were still asleep, or not even in the frame, but a small boy with ruffled dark hair and piercing eyes stared back at her, his elbows perched on the frame as he propped his chin up with his fist._

_"Don't forget, okay?" The painted boy said._

_"I won't," Lian had promised._

Snape withdrew from her head after that, and the stupid groan was back on in full volume as he gathered his thoughts. After a very painful minute, he finally spoke. "How were you doing that?"

She blinked. "Doing what?"

"I could see your memories, but they were blurred and completely devoid of sound, except for a dull-"

"Buzzing noise that makes you want to smash your face repeatedly into a wall? Yes, I don't know what that is but I'd really like to or else I'm gonna go crazy, provided I'm not already there."

He surveyed her from head to toe, really taking in her slumped posture, the dark circles under her eyes and the matted, unkept hair hanging lifeless around her face. He moved to his cabinet and carefully selected a phial filled with a swirling, dull lavender type of liquid. She knew she ought to recognize it but for the life of her she couldn't think what its name was. Professor Snape pressed it into her palm and instructed, "Two drops as needed. Every time the noise starts up and you can't focus. Come to me when you run out, I'll keep a running stock while I research a more permanent solution."

Lian displayed just how beaten down she was by asking her next question, "What is it?"

"The Draught of Peace, Ms. Kowalski; you learned how to brew it in my class last year."

She nodded mutely, popped the cork and swallowed two drops immediately. At once the buzzing stopped and she almost collapsed from relief. “Thank you, Professor Snape,” she sighed in earnest, rubbing at her forehead.

“If I might pose a simple question in return,” Snape said without missing a beat. “Who was the boy in the painting?”

Lian raised her eyes to meet his dark ones, and sensed rather than saw his mind churning with the image she’d displayed before him. “That’s my little brother…his name is Oliver.”

Her teacher nodded and raised a hand to dismiss her when another question rose in his mind. “As for Potter’s rebellion…what are your reasons behind supporting him?”

She bit her lip, considering her words before she used them for a change. “I think that Harry and his friends are well aware of the threat you all face. I think he’s trying to help everyone be able to defend themselves, and at the very least rise to your standard of Defensive magic. Of course if you would rather they struggle and get frustrated on their own, that’s your prerogative.”

Professor Snape raised a single eyebrow skeptically. “You think I should give permission, don’t you.”

Lian shrugged. “At Ilvermorny, we fought with our classmates all the time. It made us stronger, faster, able to change from relaxed to offensive or defensive at the twitch of a muscle or squint of an eye. And really—” she opened the office door and glanced back at him with her most sincere expression. “That’s what this world calls for, right? To be ready before it’s too late.”

She thanked him again for the potion and the door was just closing behind her when she thought she heard him say, “…should place a few conditions myself…”

* * *

He’d been looking for Lian when he spotted the girl, sitting at a lone table surrounded with books of a most unsettling nature. He moved swiftly to said table and swiped the nearest volume, scanning its spine skeptically. “ _Magik Moste Evil?_ Sneak into the restricted section did we, Granger?”

The Gryffindor raised her eyes to glare at him, ready with a sharp remark on her tongue as he raised his shoulders in order to brace himself. “None of your—Malfoy?”

He grimaced and raised his eyebrows at her. “I was only asking…still this is some heavy reading for Potter’s 2nd in command. Or is that Weasley? It seems to change everyday.”

She reclaimed the heavy book with a rather sour expression and placed it to the side. “I don’t have to answer to you, Malfoy.”

He pulled out the chair opposite her and had a seat, ignoring her indignant scoff as he did so. “No of course not, it isn’t as though you owe me any favors, though you might consider the fact that I might know more on this side of magic than someone like you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” She replied waspishly. Draco wouldn’t be surprised if she was pointing her wand at him under the table.

He shrugged, giving her his most bored expression. “That I, unlike you, was raised by a known and convicted Death Eater.” _And might be marked as one myself_ , he thought privately.

"Oh." She looked properly admonished then, and he couldn't help but feel triumphant. "But that doesn't mean you know everything he did, does it?"

"Perhaps not, but I'd still bet half my fortune that I know more on the subject of Dark magic than you, Granger, so tell me, what on earth are you researching for on behalf of _The Chosen One_?" he said the title with a heavy amount of sarcasm, and it was neither missed, nor rebuked by the Gryffindor.

Was it a trick of the light, or did he spot a flicker of hope in her eyes? "I'm not at liberty to say." She didn't even deny that she was doing Potter's homework for him.

"Well, when you start making your own decisions, my offer still stands." He stood up and made to leave, as he hadn't marched all the way to the depths of the library to talk to her. According to Theo, Lian had been spending a lot of time somewhere in there, though it didn't appear to be homework related. (" _How do you figure?_ ") Draco had asked, and had been informed, (" _She never takes her bag with her_.")

"Malfoy?" Granger said as he took his first steps away from her table. He paused but didn't turn to face her, inwardly bracing himself for a scathing yet well-deserved remark. "Do you know anything about…about soul magics?"

 _That didn't take very long_. He tilted his head thoughtfully, before slowly turning his head to only just glance her way. "Yes. And you won't find your answers in those, so I'd put them back before the librarian catches you." Draco could almost see her desire to ask questions, it was very similar to how she behaved in class when she knew the answer, minus her hand slapping the air. But she still felt bound by her connection to Potter, so he moved away before she could implode from inner conflict.

He never did find Lian in the library, though he did notice something that looked like sand near the school records. This castle really was old as dirt, it was practically dissolving under their feet.

* * *

Wondering what the headmaster had in store for their lesson this time, Harry was a little shell-shocked to find Snape and Moony waiting in the office as well as Dumbledore. Were they in on the private nature of his meetings with Dumbledore? If so, Remus had never mentioned it to him outside of-

"Have a seat, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said warmly, waving to the only available chair between the best teacher and the worst teacher Harry ever had. Feeling like he was willingly sitting on a landmine, Harry sat. "I have called us all together at Professor Snape's behest, so I shall let him carry on from here." The headmaster threaded his long fingers together, the pink with the blackened, and rested his chin as he looked to Snape.

Harry didn’t want to look at his old potions teacher, but did so after Remus elbowed him rather discreetly. Snape’s expression was inscrutable as always, but Harry couldn’t help but detect that he was pleased with himself. _Git_.

“I have been giving the restoration of the group known as Dumbledore’s Army a great deal of thought…and I reject its return.”

“What!” Harry snapped before Remus could stop him. “Why?”

“I am not finished, unless you’d like to throw a tantrum first, Potter.” Snape hissed, his dark eyes glittering, challenging Harry to yell at him.

“Let him finish,” Remus muttered in his ear. “Trust me.”

“Yet it appears that our students learn better in large groups, then as the originally intended method of private and dedicated study,” Snape continued when he was certain Harry had no further interruptions. “I suppose for the lesser minds there is something to be said about encouragement and praise. Thus I have decided that students wishing to practice their defensive magiks will be allowed to meet weekly, in the great hall or possibly on the grounds, with the headmaster’s permission of course,” he exchanged a simple nod with Dumbledore there. “With a few terms set by myself and Lupin, that is…”

Harry knew he said ‘few’ but he could already imagine the lengthy list he was in for. But why had he been summoned? This felt like a meeting between headmaster and teachers; why had he been invited?

“…and as it will be in essence a subsection of Defense Against the Dark Arts, I think it is important that I be kept apprised on the spellwork studied and practiced there. A student of my choosing will keep a detailed log while present at each meeting, to report directly back to me.” Snape continued with his all-important manner, ignoring the indignant and disagreeable grunt that came from Harry. “No meeting can be held without representation from all four houses. No amount of prejudice or old arguments will be allowed to conflict in the study period—” Harry had to resist the urge to snort in derision. He should be lecturing his own students on this, nobody in Gryffindor would--but then Harry envisioned Ron and Malfoy shouting at one another for no particular reason other than simply existing in the same space and bit his tongue.

"As it is, I expect there are spells that must be addressed properly, and if you don't have the stomach to teach them then I or an appointed person of my choosing will step up to the task. And finally," Snape paused, and only continued when Harry reluctantly met his gaze. "All spells used and practiced during these sessions must be nonverbal."

Harry felt a mixture of fury and dread. Snape was effectively perverting the DA in every single way he could think of, and if Dumbledore was going to allow-- "That may be a good requirement for the sixth and seventh years, Severus," the headmaster said calmly. "But for the younger students, verbal incantations will continue to suffice."

Snape curled his lip. "Very well, if you don't mind falling behind."

Harry frowned at this, _falling behind what?_ Lupin spoke up at last, "Hogwarts has had a set curriculum for generations, Severus, it's not about to change because one of its Defense teachers feels envious of another."

"This is not envy!" Snape barked. "This is a challenge, one that I believe the more capable students could rise to meet, regardless of age."

"Severus, have you ever spoken with Professor Agilbert Fontaine? I shouldn't think so, therefore you can't begin to picture how his students are molded from the moment they stand on their Gordian knot." Dumbledore sat back in his chair, gazing at Snape over his half-moon spectacles. "Hogwarts will always be Hogwarts. If that bothers you now, after all this time, perhaps I ought to transfer you into Professor Fontaine's payroll."

Harry was completely lost, he had no idea who Agilbert Fontaine could be, or why Dumbledore spoke of him in such high regard. He couldn't be a teacher in the castle, Harry was pretty sure he knew all of the staff by name or reputation at this point. And what was a Gordian Knot?

"If you could see beyond your own fingertips for a moment, maybe you could realize that I'm only-" Snape was saying, barely controlling himself when Lupin cleared his throat.

"I believe we're getting off topic." He turned to look at Harry. "We wanted to know if you'd be willing to help the students study Defense the same as you did last year."

"Except not in secret and a bit more inclusive, you mean," Harry replied, grateful for Lupin's directness.

"Exactly." Dumbledore gave him a small smile around Snape's imposing figure. "And perhaps with a little more encouragement from the teachers, rather than the ordeal you were faced with previously."

The scars on the back of Harry's hand stung for a second at the memory of the woman who made him carve them there. "To be honest, Professor, I'm not sure I'm the right person to instruct this time around. Hermione would be a much better-"

"I think you'll find that you are uniquely capable of guiding your classmates in this instance." Dumbledore said, his voice light but his words leaving little room for misinterpretation. "However, if you would rather sit back and allow someone of Professor Snape's choosing to lead yourself and your classmates then-"

Harry glanced at Snape and knew he'd try to pick Malfoy, or maybe one of his prized seventh years. No one from the old DA would listen to a snobby Slytherin, especially after Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad last year. For this reason, even Lian couldn't claim neutrality. Several people still wouldn't talk to her because of her inclusion (although apparently she was working against Umbridge right under the toad's nose.) And the Slytherin's in his year had already come and agreed to work. Snape was in agreement so long as his terms were met. But how was Harry supposed to encourage his classmates to work with the Slytherins when he himself still bore resentment and a type of hatred for them? And keep up with private lessons with Dumbledore, and all his advanced schoolwork? It was impossible…

"Actually, Professor, I think there's a better way…"

* * *

"This room isn't nearly as impressive as I'd imagined," Draco proclaimed loudly, not that he was addressing anyone specifically. Lian was grateful he'd been invited as well because 'the old champions room' held no sway on her ability to navigate Hogwarts. She was a little surprised to see Adam standing beside snide-faced Smith, and her distant cousin Anthony Goldstein was waiting near the bookshelf with Luna Lovegood, but none of them seemed to know who had summoned them specifically to the little room off the Great Hall. Or if they did, they were not inclined to share with Slytherins, and while last-year-Lian would have boiled over with indignation, present-year-Lian understood their hesitance.

She glanced at Adam as he decided to answer Draco, having little to no grudge towards him, as opposed to nearly everyone else present. "What do you mean?"

Draco rolled his eyes dismissively. "You weren't here but this is where the Tri-Wizard Champions met a few years ago. I expected something special, but then I forgot this is only Hogwarts."

"Yes, it’s a rather dreary looking place," Adam replied agreeably, unknowingly alienating himself from everyone else in the room who loved the castle. "Ilvermorny is much more welcoming and impressive as far as appearance goes."

"No one asked you to come," Goldstein sniffed.

Adam glanced at Lian before shrugging. "I suppose that's true."

The door opened to admit Harry and Hermione, saving the rest of them from any further pointless conversation. Lian didn't need her abilities to tell that they'd been arguing before entering the room. Hermione's brow was still furrowed as she marched over to stand with Luna and face Harry, demonstrating that she was with the rest of them as far as this meeting went. Maybe Harry refused to tell her what it's purpose was, and she was enraged to be dragged from her homework for no apparent reason. Harry cleared his throat awkwardly as he gave a quick head count. "Thank you all for coming, I'll try to be brief, but-"

"I had to postpone Quidditch practice," Anthony said tersely. "This better be good."

 _Interesting_ , Lian thought, looking around again at the people gathered. Intentional or not, Harry had summoned all the Quidditch captains from the four houses, but what about herself, Adam, Luna and Hermione?

"I'm sorry about that, Goldstein," Harry nodded at the Ravenclaw Captain. "You can have Gryffindor's slot on Thursday. But I'm not here to discuss Quidditch; I wanted to ask you all something."

"Out with it then," Draco barked from where he stood beside Lian. They'd chosen to hover near the door, and Harry had to turn his head away from the rest to look at them. His impatience was borne from a hefty essay on Transfiguration, he'd been trying to ask Lian for help without actually asking for help when the note had turned up. ("No, I don't need advice…but if I were to attempt to transfigure say, my legs, what methodology would I need…")

"I've got permission from Professor Lupin, Dumbledore, and Snape to start up the old DA meetings again…but I don't want nor do I believe that I can lead this time on my own. I wanted to ask if you all would work with me to help our classmates learn defensive magic together."

"Why us?" Smith asked, glancing pointedly in Luna's direction.

"Because I feel that you all have different strengths, and command a certain amount of respect in your own houses. I don't want just one of us to lead the rest, I think the best way to move forward is together. Would you all be willing to work with me, and with everyone else in this room?"

"So rather than trying to make everyone listen to only you, you want us to form what…a council?" Draco asked skeptically.

Harry nodded at him, fighting to keep the glare out of his eyes as he did. Lian couldn’t really blame him, it was probably an instinctive reaction he’d built after years of hating Draco. “Exactly.”

“What about them?” Anthony jerked his head at Lian and then over at Adam. “They’re not even real Hogwarts students.”

Lian tensed and felt a retort rising up her throat but waited for Harry to defend them. She didn’t want to start a fight when a tentative truce was finally on the rise. Unfortunately, Adam had a different plan. "Huh, I must have imagined my official transfer with all those interviews and tests and negotiations. Just because Lian and I haven't been your classmates for the past 6 years shouldn't change the fact that we're here now. Not to mention, Potter probably recognizes our aptitude for dueling."

 _Well, at least he didn't raise his voice or bare his fangs_ , Lian thought, sighing as Anthony curled his lip in reply. "Are you saying you're a better duelist than me?"

Exactly when Adam withdrew his wand, Lian wasn't entirely sure, but at least he had the sense to hold it loosely at his side, ready but not too threatening. "Only one way to know for sure, isn't there?"

Hermione stepped between them, her hands raised. "Enough! We're not here to fight!"

Lian cleared her throat, moving forward into the middle of the room. “In order for this council idea to work, all of its members should be able to reach an agreement. Harry, as one of the burgeoning councilmen, proposed that two transfer students be elected to represent the house’s of Slytherin and Hufflepuff, respectively. However, as Goldstein has pointed out, Adam and I are—” she paused, sending Anthony a cold glance before continuing with a soft hiss. “Guests, in this castle. While I appreciate the gesture, Harry, I’m afraid I am not fit for the position. I bid you all goodnight.” Keeping her expression blank as though playing poker or chess, Lian nodded to her classmates politely before exiting the room. The heavy footfalls behind her told her that Adam had elected to follow her out.

“Are you okay?” He asked as they crossed the empty hall. “I thought you were gonna tear that Ravenclaw limb from—”

“I’ve been among these people for more than a year, and I learned that when it comes to a Gryffindor you need force, a Hufflepuff needs honesty, a Slytherin you need words but a Ravenclaw requires action.”

Adam made a grunt of derision. “But aren’t they like, the Horned Serpent equivalent? Wouldn’t words be—”

“An intellectual and creative mind uses words every which way, so they understand that words can be bent, betrayed, and broken.” Lian sighed as they reached the entrance hall, where she would go right and he would go left to return to their respective common rooms. Adam stepped around her until she met his searching gaze. “What?”

“So your action was what, storming out of there? Make him feel bad?”

She smirked up at him. “Oh that was nothing. I have an idea, and I need you with me.”

Adam quirked an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, it’s like Anthony said: ‘They’re not even real Hogwarts students’,” Lian repeated, resisting the urge to sneer.


	12. The Dancing Dragon

Since she first crashed into Hogwarts, Lian Kowalski always had the uncanny ability to stand out. Or at least she had to me. But on a fine Tuesday morning as I was halfway through my breakfast, I glanced towards the double doors and choked on my oatmeal. Quince and Lian entered the great hall together (probably planned it) wearing navy blue robes with a red trim. In the place of the Hogwarts uniform with house colors, Lian wore a plaid skirt, a white blouse, and rather than her Slytherin tie, a dark red ribbon. Her Slytherin badge had been replaced with a golden knot. Quince was similarly dressed, though thankfully he’d opted for trousers over a skirt. He did have a tie still, but it was loose round his neck and navy blue, rather than yellow and grey. Striding confidently up the aisle between the Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, Lian paused beside Draco and Blaise and dropped an envelope on the formers plate.

The two had been engaged in a quidditch related matter so when they looked up to see Lian so blatantly out of school uniform it took them a few moments to find their tongues. “What are you doing?” Blaise demanded.

“And what is this?” Draco finally asked, pointing at the envelope with his fork.

“I’m resigning from the team.” Lian stated boldly. Further up the hall I spotted Quince having a similar interaction with Smith. Had they lost their minds? Draco seemed to think so.

“Resign? From quidditch?? Are you mental?!” He actually jumped to his feet in outrage. “How the bloody hell am I supposed to find a replacement for you!?!”

“You’ll manage.” She replied simply, unimpressed by his scowl which had the ability to make lesser folks cower. Crabbe and Goyle were prime examples. “Later, boys.” She pivoted on her heel and stalked back up the great hall, chin high and shoulders back. Quince soon followed, after he realized that Smith wasn’t going to stop shouting anytime soon. Only when the last trace of navy blue had vanished beyond the doors did I regain control of myself. Half of me wanted to charge after them and demand an explanation, but the other half wanted to wait and see. Lian didn’t usually do anything without cause, and I had a feeling that hers and Quinces’ little charade had only just begun.

Sure enough, over the next few days the blue and red uniforms persisted. Word got around, though neither Lian nor Quince openly said it, that they were the Ilvermorny school robes; but why the sudden change—nobody knew. Nobody I talked to, anyway.

“Maybe it’s a dare,” Pansy speculated that Friday afternoon in study hall.

“But they both quit quidditch,” Daphne reminded her. “Tori’s been out of her mind about it.”

“Astoria didn’t have to go back to the list of recruits and remember which one could fly from one end of the pitch to the other,” Draco growled from behind his History of Magic homework. “Bloody Goldstein…”

I sent him a bewildered look. “The Ravenclaw Captain? What about him?”

Draco sneered. “He told Lian that she wasn’t a real Hogwarts student. And the next day she’s wearing her old colors? Not attending meals with the rest of the school, keeping to herself and Quince and they strut around like they know something we don’t?”

Apparently I needed to talk to Draco more often. “All because of Goldstein?”

“Well maybe it started that way,” Millie grunted, scratching out a mistake on her parchment. “But since yesterday I think they just like being back in their old robes. Why else would they have brought them along?”

“But she didn’t bring them,” Pansy said offhandedly, scanning her textbook—no, her nails, she was scanning her nails, under the pretense of reading about transfiguration. “Tuesday morning I saw her take out her Slytherin robes and transfigure them; but it was no transfiguration I’ve ever seen before. She had the audacity to draw on the robes with chalk and make all these weird symbols first. I thought I was dreaming until I saw her at breakfast to be honest.”

“I wonder why Professor Snape, or McGonagall haven’t made her change back,” Daphne said, glancing across the room where Lian sat alone, nose buried in a book. Not even a textbook—a novel.

“Well,” Blaise stifled a yawn. “It’s not as though anyone made the Beauxbaton or Durmstrang students wear Hogwarts robes when they were here.”

“Yes, but they didn’t get sorted into our houses they were guests,” Daphne replied. 

Draco grit his teeth and smacked his head against _Terror of the Trolls_. Pansy rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. “Don’t be so dramatic, Draco, it’s only us.”

“Guests,” he growled against the cover.

“What are you on about?” I asked, with the tiniest hint of impatience.

“Before marching out, Lian declared that they were indeed ‘guests’…” he let the word dangle, hoping his implication didn’t need further explanation.

Daphne furrowed her brow. “…so her marching around in her old uniform is her way of sticking it to one foolish Ravenclaw?”

That didn’t sound quite like Lian to me. In order to react on such a scale she’d need a bigger cause, or so I thought. Glancing at Draco, I took an educated guess. “No one in the room argued with Goldstein, did they? None of the kids from the other houses, or you?”

Mutely, Draco shook his head.

“Still doesn’t explain why none of the staff have made them change,” Daphne insisted. “None of them were even present for that part.”

“Maybe they’re not required to wear the Hogwarts robes, so long as they’re in uniform,” Pansy suggested, raising her wand to practice her nonverbal spell-work. She glared at Blaise and myself as we both slid away from her on the bench. “Come on, I’m not that bad!”

“Le ultime parole famose,” Blaise muttered. “Speaking of that meeting, Malfoy,” he directed his attention towards Draco again. “When is this defensive magic group meeting, anyway?”

“Tonight,” Draco replied, and looking around at our surprised expressions added, “Didn’t I mention?”

Leaving Pansy and Blaise to chew him out for the zero heads up, I slipped over to the blue and red garbed girl in the corner. On my approach I was able to read the title of the novel she was engrossed in: _Black Beauty_. There was a black horse on the cover, and I knew it was a muggle book because the horse was frozen in place.

“What are you doing?” I asked, shifting her feet onto the floor so I could sit.

“Reading,” she replied lightly, her eyes briefly meeting mine as her heels hit the floor with a dull thunk.

I scoffed. “Yeah, like I’d believe the muggle street smart city girl from New York America is quietly rebelling as she reads a book about horses—now tell me what you’re really upto.”

She closed the book, a finger to her lips as she hid a smile. “…First of all, it’s Manhattan, New York, USA. And I’m reading the room. The book is a literal cover, although,” she paused to admire the drawing of the horse. “It is an excellent one.”

“Who are you reading?” I felt nervous for a moment.

“Mostly Daphne, a bit of Blaise.” Came her nonchalant reply, giving me a reason to relax again. “I noticed you and Draco have been practicing occlumency even without our meeting last night—sorry about that.”

I had neither the heart nor the mind to tell her I’d forgotten about the appointment so I shrugged. “To make it up to me why don’t you answer my question.”

“‘What am I really upto’?” She repeated, gesturing at her Ilvermorny robes. “Well at first I wanted it to be this big thing where I’d stick it to those people who never really accepted Adam and I as students here even though the transfers are official and finalized and whatnot.”

“But?”

Lian sighed. “But then after the first day, we were summoned to McGonagall’s office and questioned about whether we felt more at home in our original robes. And the more she talked the more I realized that yeah, I missed Ilvermorny and patterning my free time after how I’d spend it back there kind of felt more natural than trying to blend into the eternal black of Hogwarts. I want to be here and that’s my choice but the headmistress gave both of us permission to sport Ilvermorny colors, so long as we continue to maintain the dress code.”

“What’s wrong with Slytherin robes?” I asked, frowning.

“Nothing. But I’m always going to be a Thunderbird first.”

“What about quitting Quidditch?”

Lian grimaced and shot an apologetic glance in Draco’s direction. “I thought I could handle it all—but it’s too much. I needed something to move and classes and homework come sec—first.” She corrected herself quickly but I caught it anyway. What came first to her if not her education? “With the awakening of the DA again I just had to quit. I’ll still go to games, and now I can join you in the stands.”

I wrinkled my nose at her, allowing the questions on my tongue to subside. “You actually can’t.”

“Why not?” She asked, eyes wide. “Merlin’s beard you don’t all have assigned seats do you?”

“No—I won’t be in the stands.” I rolled my eyes at her. “Some idiot suddenly resigned the team the other day and Draco practically begged me to replace her.”

She clapped a hand to her mouth, imitating Daphne. “Oho-! Nice!”

“No,” I corrected her. “Awful. You know I hate crowds. And attention.”

Lian patted my hand, and I felt a bit patronized. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll be cheering for you.”

“What if it’s Slytherin vs Hufflepuff?” I asked, unable to keep the bite out of my voice. Quince might have only pretended to resign, after all.

“Oh please, all of my friends could be playing for Hufflepuff, but I’d still cheer for Slytherin. I have house pride.”

“Even if it’s secondary?” I said, watching her for the slightest hint of hesitation.

Lian nodded. “Especially if it’s secondary.”

She seemed to return to normal after that, her wardrobe selection aside. For the rest of the afternoon she walked with the Slytherins to and from classes, dinner, the common room, then back to the great hall for the first revival of the DA. Draco had chosen Daphne to be the other Slytherin representative, likely because she had a presence that nobody could deny, and in my opinion she was the least likely to create and feed conflict. They stood beside Zacharias Smith and Susan Bones, who stood with Harry and Hermione, and completing the four houses theme stood Goldstein and Lovegood. Standing with Blaise and Lian with the rest of the 6th, 5th, and a few 7th year Slytherins I couldn’t help but think that there was a good balance of personality in the student leaders. At least from what I’d observed over the last 6 years. And yet, even as the eight students stood where the staff table would normally stand, I think everyone was watching Potter, waiting for him to lead out. _So much for democracy_. 

However it was Goldstein who called for everyone’s attention. “Right, thank you all for coming to the revival of the group formerly known as Dumbledore’s Army—” there was a clatter of cheers from the original members—though Lian and I remained quiet. I think she would have cheered if it had been anyone other than Goldstein speaking. “We wanted to go over the rules that must be observed when we gather here, seeing how this is an officially recognized defense club.”

“Can’t you just write them down somewhere for us to review later?” Came a bored voice of a seventh year I didn’t recognize.

Daphne stepped forward as Goldstein moved back in line. If she was nervous it didn’t show. “The rules are as follows: all NEWT students are required to duel non verbally. All students must use hexes and jinxes approved by the staff, this council, or found in the appropriate textbook. Please refrain from experimenting on your classmates. Proper language, etiquette and manners must be used between dueling partners and classmates. Foul language, gestures or implications will result in immediate suspension or expulsion from the club.”

As she continued on for another minute I whispered to Lian and Blaise. “Who d’you reckon wrote these? Granger or Daph?”

In perfect unison they replied, “Both.” 

“Do we have to hold our pinky’s out when we cast spells?” How I hadn’t noticed the huge werewolf—I mean, werepuff—no, Hufflewolf—agh! Quince had somehow stood close without my noticing and his inquiry made Lian smirk.

Blaise put on a thoughtful face and shrugged. “I wouldn’t be surprised, mate.”

Mate?? Blaise didn’t call just anyone mate-! He still called Draco by his surname at times—he kept more to himself than I did at—

“We began our meetings last year by agreeing on a name,” Hermione was saying, steering my attention back to the front. “The headmaster has requested that we change it, so if anyone has any ideas don’t be afraid to shout them out.” After a pause she added, “I still think the ‘Defense Association’ is a good—”

“Potter’s Army!” One of the Creevy brothers yelled. This was met by a few laughs and noises of agreement from Gryffindor.

“Sarogohe,” Finch-Fletchly called from Hufflepuff. “It’s the first two letters of each founders name merged. Maybe Hegosaro? Gorohesa?”

“Shut up,” Pansy growled.

“Language!” Daphne reminded her.

“Please shut up.”

“What about Hogwarts United?” called someone from the Ravenclaw group.

Lian muttered something to herself but the tumult was so great by then I couldn’t catch a single syllable.

“You-Know-Who’s Worst Nightmare—Nightmare for short,” that definitely came out of Gryffindor.

“The Fiercesome Foursome—four houses,” a Hufflepuff reasoned.

“What about Chimera?” I think Millie surprised everyone by even paying attention. “Like, all the house mascots merged into one?”

“Hufflepuff is a badger, not a goat!”

“What about Ravenclaw?!”

“Hey!” Lian clicked her steel fingers, the effect making the air sizzle slightly. “Might I make a suggestion, please?”

“Go ahead,” Hermione replied, but Goldstein was glaring at her.

“I discovered recently that this school has a motto—who knew.” Lian grinned as she moved more into view of everyone in the room, unashamed of her blue and red robes. It was then I noticed she’d pinned on her Slytherin crest sometime between study hall and now. “ _Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus_ , right? Why not call ourselves the Sleeping Dragons?”

More names were suggested, and there was a blind vote—we were told to close our eyes and raise our hands when the club name we wanted was called. It was a close shave between the Nightmares and Hogwarts United—Potter’s Army wasn’t even considered thank Merlin—but the Sleeping Dragons won. (I didn’t peek but I had a suspicion that every Slytherin in the room had voted for that one.)

The remainder of the time was spent with each year practicing the spells that either Professors Snape or Lupin had assigned that week, though the leaders promised that more varieties of spells would be practiced in the coming weeks.

That night, as I rested my head on my pillow, I truly believed that this year, maybe, finally, would be a normal school year. No conspiracy’s, no insane teachers, no rumors about the heirs of any of the founders haunting the halls, just homework, and the looming threat of a wizarding war on the horizon, but far outside of the walls of Hogwarts. Sure, the dark lord wanted Dumbledore dead, but even he wasn’t stupid enough to charge the gates. If we were lucky enough, the war wouldn’t get started for another year…

Of course, I’d never been so lucky…why would it start now?

————————

Snow was swirling against the icy windows; Christmas was approaching fast. Hagrid had already single-handedly delivered the usual twelve Christmas trees for the Great Hall; garlands of holly and tinsel had been twisted around the banisters of the stairs; everlasting candles glowed from inside the helmets of the suits of armor and great bunches of mistletoe had been hung at intervals along the corridors. Lian had had the foresight to dodge these altogether, just in case anyone got any funny ideas. Unfortunately, her aversion did not slip by unnoticed and Adam or Pansy, depending on who she was walking with, elected to make a game out of herding her under the offending weed.

"You have been kissed before, haven't you?" Pansy deemed to ask loudly one night in the common room. A couple of their classmates looked around except notably Theo, who kept his eyes glued to his Charms book, ( _Quintessence: A Quest_ ).

Resisting the urge to retaliate physically, Lian simply gazed back with as high and mighty and secretive an expression as she could muster and said, "That's my business."

"That's a yes!" Pansy crowed victoriously. "Was it Adam?"

So, Lian took to spending more evenings, more free periods in the Library than before. At this rate, she might turn into Hermione. She couldn't enter the place without spying the lioness somewhere among the dusty books and hundreds of shelves. There were a couple of evenings where she was joined by Harry, though Ron seemed to be mysteriously absent during those times. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Ron or Hermione in the same space for a few weeks. Oh well.

On one such an evening, Lian was doing her usual research thumbing through old records and newspapers when she couldn't help but pick up on the Gryffindors' whispered conversation in the next row over.

"And incidentally," Hermione was saying, "you need to be careful."

"For the last time," said Harry, his voice slightly hoarse. "I am not giving back this book, I've learned more from the Half-Blood Prince than Snape or Slughorn have taught me in-"

"I'm not talking about your stupid so-called Prince," said Hermione waspishly. "I'm talking about earlier. I went into the girls' bathroom just before I came in here and there were about a dozen girls in there, including that Romilda Vane, trying to decide how to slip you a love potion. They're all hoping they're going to get you to take them to Slughorn's party, and they all seem to have bought Fred and George's love potions, which I'm afraid to say probably work-"

Dog-earring one of the records she'd been perusing, Lian sniggered into her wrist at the thought of the twins making mountains of gold off of teenage drama. _I knew I liked them_.

"Why didn't you confiscate them then?" demanded Harry.

"They didn't have the potions with them in the bathroom," said Hermione scornfully. "They were just discussing tactics. As I doubt whether even the Half-Blood Prince could dream up an antidote for a dozen different love potions at once, I'd just invite someone to go with you, that'll stop all the others thinking they've still got a chance. It's tomorrow night, they're getting desperate."

"There isn't anyone I want to invite," mumbled Harry. Lian knew that wasn't true, as the moment he'd said it she picked up distinct yearning vibes from his direction. A simple mental glance was all she needed to know he was pining after Ginny Weasley.

Deciding that she'd dropped enough eaves to fill her drama tolerance for that day, she began to replace the rolls of parchment and newspaper clippings as she'd found them when a clawed hand descended upon her left shoulder. Lian jumped and looked around at the vulture of a librarian, Madam Pince, her face horribly illuminated by the lamp she was carrying. "The library is now closed," she said. "Mind you return anything you have borrowed back to the correct-- _what have you done?_ " The woman's beady eyes narrowed dangerously as she snatched the book of records away from Lian's reach.

For a moment, she didn't realize what her problem was until she remembered all the dog-ears she'd made, not just tonight but in the months past where she'd been scanning the true history of Hogwarts. Book-lovers tended to frown on the habit, but the librarian looked ready to erupt. "I'm sorry, I didn't think-"

"Despoiled!" she hissed. "Desecrated! Befouled!"

"Calm down it's just a few dozen pages, no harm no-" still talking, Lian ducked around the mad librarian and skipped out of the place, hearing two Gryffindors dash along in her wake.

"What did she catch you with?" Hermione asked after they'd taken a breather, a good six corridors away.

"It doesn't matter," Lian replied with a hollow laugh. "She'll probably hide it in her precious restricted section so I can never touch it again." Her eyes fell on the book under Harry's arm, their years' copy of _Advanced Potion Making_ , a pretty shabby one at that, and added, "Lucky she didn't see that piece of work. What'd you do to it, Harry, run it over with a train?"

He chuckled awkwardly as he stowed it away in his bag. "It's a school copy, I got it in that condition."

"So…" Lian wanted to find a way to return to her common room without being rude, but she also wanted to talk to someone who wouldn't incessantly assail her with poking questions like Pansy would the second she returned. "I hear you've got girl trouble, Harry." She grimaced at the two of them and shrugged. "Sorry, I couldn't help but listen."

Hermione looked back at her quizzically. "To a whispered conversation?"

"An angry whisper is technically a quiet shout," Lian replied easily. "I didn't hear most of the conversation but what is the deal with Romilda Vane? Is she ugly?"

Harry, who had gone a bit pink around his neck and cheeks, coughed. "That's not the issue, I just don't want a date for the party…"

"Which only serves to leave him as a target to desperate girls who want to be with the Chosen One," Hermione supplied. 1

“Are people still on that?” Lian asked sarcastically. “You’d think they’d have moved on by now. It’s not like you’re world famous or anything.” Harry smiled grudgingly, falling into step as the three of them walked the rest of the way to the grand staircase. “Hermione’s right, Harry. Far be it from me to encourage anyone to date before they think they’re ready, but you should at least bring a friend along. Back at Ilvermorny, I never attended a single event without at least five good friends surrounding me. We would clown around and have the best time, and nobody worries about who likes who or ugh is it going to be weird later—just good fun.” Hermione began to climb the stairs as Harry paused to look at Lian with new eyes. “Don’t you have anyone you could invite along with that tone in mind?” He, being a teenage boy with very little forethought, shook his head. Lian gave him a pitying smile. “I don’t think that’s true.”

She waved him goodnight and turned to head down to the dungeons. She’d moved maybe ten feet before he called out to her. “Would you?”

Lian turned back. “Would I what?”

“Go with me, for fun?” He was speaking in fragments and Lian knew he was flying by the seat of his pants. He had no plan, no thought for the aftermath. It was by pure curiosity that she answered. “Sure.”

——

“Lian, why are you setting out muggle clothes?” Daphne asked the following evening. She and Pansy had followed Lian with great interest as she dodged Adam, who seemed intent on cornering her that day of all days. Finding solace in the dormitory, she had no choice but to figure out what if anything she could wear to a party put on by a magical walrus. She had a silver sweater gifted to her by Astoria that she’d always perceived to be a little too fancy. Maybe now she could finally—

“Are you going to Slughorns party?” Pansy demanded. “The fancy one for his favorites?? I knew it! Adam was looking for you earlier he asked you didn’t he! Where’s your gown?”

Accustomed to processing Pansy’s rapid fire accusations by now, Lian focused on the last question. “My what?”

"Dress robes? Fancy dress? Costume? Evening gown?" Pansy tossed herself onto Lian's bedspread dramatically. "Surely you have something suitable for the party. Let's see it then."

Lian shrugged, replacing the sweater back in her wardrobe. "I'm not one to get all gussied up for no reason. Why would I pack dress robes?" Looking around at Daphne for support, she only found scandalized disappointment.

"You've nothing to wear?!" The ash blonde gasped. "Merlin's hat Lian, even Millie has formal wear on hand!"

Millicent Bulstrode's cat gave a flat meow from her bed on the other side of the room as if to confirm the statement. Lian felt more hurt by the cat's input than anything her peers could have said. Probably something she picked up from Uncle Newt.

In the blink of an eye Pansy and Daphne were thrusting various pieces of clothing at her, before impatiently tossing them back with exaggerated sighs. “She’s a summer, don’t you think?” Pansy stated after about four gowns.

“Maybe, but she could almost be an autumn,” Daphne replied, holding up a green dress with way too many frills and ruffles for Lians liking. “Hmm. This won’t do.”

“Is this really such a big deal?” Lian asked exasperatedly.

“Yes!” Both girls snapped, digging through their gowns once more.

\----------------

"Tori, could you come to our room for a minute?" Pansy's voice made me look up. She only spoke in a lilting voice when she wanted something. Astoria, who had been working diligently on Herbology or something, looked over with raised eyebrows.

"What's up?"

"Your sister needs you," Pansy replied vaguely, though she was gesturing urgently. Astoria, knowing better than to delay with that kind of request, shut her textbook and rose to her feet.

"Pans!" Draco called across the common room as she began to disappear back into the girl's dormitory. She turned her head, her short, dark hair swishing around her cheeks. "Is Kowalski in there?"

Pansy grimaced. "Yeah, why?"

"Send her out, we need to talk."

"She's indisposed at the moment," Pansy replied, too vague for my liking this time.

"Why?" I asked, frowning at her. "What's Daphne doing to her?"

Pansy glanced over her shoulder and sighed before coming back into the common room. "Helping her get ready. Quince invited her to Slughorn's party tonight."

I almost coughed up dinner right then and there. "What!? When?!"

"Earlier today I think, he was looking for her at every turn. Well-" she amended quickly "-more so than usual. She's kind of blasé about the whole thing though, I get the impression she's just interested in meeting the famous wizards and witches that poor excuse for a potions master invited."

I remembered that idiot 7th year from Gryffindor, McLaggen, bragging about how the Weird Sisters and Gwenog Jones were going to be there. Still, Lian didn't seem the type to fall for a da--I couldn't even think the word without wanting to gag--to fall for that situation over the chance to meet famous people. She'd always been unimpressed with Potter and he was the most famous person in the wizarding world. Quince had to have tricked her somehow…

It didn't register in my mind that I was pacing the length of the common room until Pansy spoke to me from where she was lounging. "Calm down, Theodore," it was her patronizing tone that caught my attention. "It's just a date."

"No it isn't," I insisted, continuing to pace, barely registering that I was fidgeting with my father's ring. It was silver, with the family crest carved into it, the rune for trust. "She's only going because she wants to meet the Weird Sisters." I was tense, from head to toe but I couldn't help it. I think in that moment all of my triggers had been activated. "She doesn't even have to go--I'd buy the stupid band for her if she wants them that badly--to agree to go with _him_."

"It's only Slughorn's office, and it's not like he's going to corner her," said Draco lazily. "Even if he did you know she'd probably punch him."

"I don't know why she would," Pansy declared. "Canadian or not, Quince is a ten; I'd let him corner me any day."

I curled my lip, a biting remark at the ready but Draco posed a question before I could execute. "Why aren't you helping them now?"

Pansy shrugged. "Well you called me back and now that I think about it all of our ideas conflicted one with the other. Not to mention, those Greengrass's are not to be trifled with when there's make-up involved."

"Make-up?" I repeated. "There's no need for…" As Lian emerged into the common room, clad in midnight blue dress robes with a complicated looking plait falling over one shoulder, my voice died in my throat. When I'd seen her at dinner she'd had a lopsided knot atop her head and her wand behind her ear, her face covered in spots of soot as she'd apparently been experimenting with her Alchemy homework before dinner. Standing in the common room now she looked beautiful and proud. A true Slytherin in her own right.

"Don't stare, it's just me," Lian said with a wry grin.

"Maybe, but an hour ago you had knots in your hair and smudges of dust and ash everywhere from your Alchemy homework," Pansy remarked, speaking aloud my thoughts. Apparently I needed to brush up on my occlumency if even Pansy could look into my mind. "Now you look like a high class, well-educated lady."

"Is that what this look is?" Lian looked down at herself, her arms raising at awkward angles as she twisted and turned. "Dammit Daphne."

Speak of the devil, the blonde appeared from behind her, smirking slightly. "You'll thank me later."

"Don't hold your breath," Lian grumbled, but she was smiling. I got the impression that she'd already thanked Daphne but felt embarrassed under our stares. She cleared her throat and began to head towards the blank stretch of wall through which was the corridor leading to the entrance hall or further into the dungeons, depending on which way you turned. Not entirely sure what I was going to do or say I followed after her, tapping her on the shoulder just before she reached the wall. With a halt she turned to look up at me with raised eyebrows. "I know which fork to use, I'm not a heathen…well, yes I am, but still." And then she stuck her tongue out at me, shattering the illusion and reminding me that no matter how sharp her eyeliner or stunning her gown, she was still Lian from Manhattan.

"I don't like any of this," I began seriously. Yes I'd fallen into a truce with Quince and I had kept his secret from my fellow peers…except Draco. Yes I'd started to get used to his presence and the odd closeness they seemed to have for just friends but this was pushing my last nerve. "I don't like him, and I don't like you when you're around him."

Lian gave me a searching look, but she was biting her lip which distracted me from the notion to try to keep her out of my head. "Theo, it's no big deal. I'm not even going for the-" she raised her hands to make air quotes "-'pleasure' of his company. I just want the chance to meet someone I actually respect, you know, before all of this goes up in flames." I looked into her eyes to try and detect a lie but she was impenetrable. "Speaking of, you'd better not do anything while I'm gone."

I almost smiled at that. "Like you can lecture me about going off on my own." For someone in my own house and who was meant to be instructing Draco and me in a highly complex mental magic, I felt like I hadn't seen her all that much since term started. It wasn't like there was a crazy Ministry toad blackmailing her, but at times it still felt as though something was wrong…but what?

She was frowning now. "I'm serious, you and Draco stay here until I get back. No going to the room, nothing!"

I could hear my own heartbeat, as I slipped off my ring and placed it in her left palm. "I want you to wear this tonight."

She blinked down at it blankly, apparently expecting an argument from me, rather than a gift. "Why?"

"You put up a good struggle against Daphne, since you aren't wearing earrings or bracelets or whatever but I know the type of people Slughorn surrounds himself with and no one, not even the Weird Sisters, will look at you or treat you the way you deserve unless you have proof you belong there too."

Lian held the ring up as though appraising it, and I could spot the signs of curiosity as she noticed the engraved rune. "And this will do that how?" She tapped the rune and looked back at me. "What's this mean?"

I took the ring from her and slid it onto her left index finger. It was a little big but the magic imbued into the silver should keep it in place. "I'll explain later. Just make sure they see it, and you'll be fine." Then, without really thinking about the consequences, just that she was here and she was beautiful and about to ditch me for a werewolf, I kissed her knuckles. Quick as a flash she pulled her hand free, eyes wide and for a tense moment I was certain that she'd slap me. Instead she simply turned and walked through the wall like a phantom. 

"Huh." Draco said in my ear, causing me to jump. "You have a death wish."

"I think it's romantic," Daphne sighed, sinking onto the lounger beside Pansy.

"He's got no chance-" Pansy began to say when Astoria clapped a hand over her red stained lips. Pansy continued to talk though her words were muffled. I'm sure it was something about how Quince was a solid ten and I was a seven on a good day. There was truly nothing like the support of my closest friends in this trying time.

Draco clapped me on the shoulder and attempted to steer me back towards the boys' dormitory. "Come on. We need to get ready."

I blinked at him, perplexed. "Ready?"

He quirked an eyebrow at me. "What? We can't crash a party like that without a plan."

\------------------------

Her every step echoed off the stone floor, reminding Lian of a competition or two she'd participated in once upon a time. She'd played the awkward girl well, but this was not her first time walking around like someone out of a Grimm's fairytale. Still, she'd told Harry she'd go as his friend and the thought had crossed her mind that turning up looking so polished might spook him. He was only a teenage boy, after all. She debated whether or not she should at least remove Astoria's heels, as they would no doubt make her taller than Harry, but by that time she was climbing the steps out of the dungeons and into the entrance hall. There she spotted a group of girls whispering to each other as Harry lingered by the marble stone steps, avoiding eye contact with any of them. In an instant Lian felt her body straighten into what her father called 'dance mode' and she was striding confidently past the girls and towards her friend.

He looked up as he heard her approach and his green eyes seemed to pop out of his skull a little. "L-Lian?"

"I know, shocker right? I can look like a girl, too." She smiled cheekily at him and extended her left hand. When he looked at it blankly she added in a soft voice so the gaggle of gargirls wouldn't hear her. "Tuck it around your right elbow and escort me out of their sight."

Harry looked at her with a mixture of awe and relief as he acted per her instructions. "You look great."

"And therefore I have value," she quipped, and laughed catching sight of his expression. "I'm pulling your leg--my friend Vera used to say stuff like that all the time. Thank you for the compliment, you clean up nice too." He bobbed his head, apparently too afraid to speak and fuel her snark. Lian took that as a signal to back it off and make him relax. "How's quidditch?"

Boom. Harry launched into a long winded report on his team, on the advantages they had on all the other teams, and how they were guaranteed to win the cup this year.

As they walked into Slughorn's office, Lian concluded that it had been magically extended to contain all of the guests, because it was at least the size of the great hall. Someone had enchanted a string quartet to play themselves into a stupor, or that's what it sounded like in Lian's opinion. Harry's endless ramblings came to a complete halt as the magical walrus loomed over them both.

“Harry, m'boy!" boomed Slughorn, almost as soon as they squeezed in through the door. “Come in, come in, so many people I’d like you to meet!”

Slughorn was wearing a tasseled velvet hat to match his smoking jacket. Gripping Harry’s arm so tightly he might have been hoping to Disapparate with him, Slughorn led them purposefully into the party.

“I’d like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of _Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires--_ and, of course, his friend Sanguini.”

Worple, who was a small, stout, bespectacled man, grabbed their hands and shook them enthusiastically; the vampire Sanguini, who was tall and emaciated with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He looked rather bored. A gaggle of girls was standing close to him, looking curious and excited.

“Harry Potter, I am simply delighted!” said Worple, peering shortsightedly up at them. “I was saying to Professor Slughorn only the other day, ‘ _Where is the biography of Harry Potter for which we have all been waiting?’_ ”

“Er,” said Harry, “were you?”

Lian opened her mouth to get involved in the conversation, if anything to keep Harry from drowning. However, before she could even gather enough breath to speak a hand gripped her elbow and spun her around. "Hey-! Oh…hi." Adam was frowning down at her.

"Why'd you come with Harry and not me?" he demanded, failing to keep the hurt out of his tone and his puppy eyes.

"Because no matter what I said you'd see it as a date and as you well know--I don't do those." She gave him a cursory once over and gave an approving nod. "Not bad mon petit loup-garou."

Adam flicked her forehead. "Don't patronize me."

Smirking, Lian glanced around. "Are you alone?"

"I invited Susan, but she got lost somewhere around Celestina Warbeck." Under the look Lian was giving him he shrugged. "I can be nice, she really wanted to come."

"I can be nice too, Harry didn't want to get spiked with love potion. I can relate to that," said Lian pointedly.

"That was two years ago," Adam sighed.

"I have a long memory." Lian turned back to Harry, who was looking lost in Slughorn's wake, and grabbed his hand. "Wanna dance?"

The idea seemed to shock him. "I don't dance."

Her grin was probably wicked. "You do now."

She withdrew her wand, swished it over his shoes, jabbed it at the quartet and stowed it away again in the same motion, before pulling Harry closer to the music. The stupor had jumped into a simple foxtrot, a good beginner for any queasy dancers. There was a space in the floor but people seemed to be swaying in place rather than actually leading, following and making steps. That changed with the tempo, or maybe with Lian and Harry cutting a rug, (though admittedly he needed instruction for where to look and when to raise his arms.) She'd spelled his shoes with something a little more elegant than _Tarantallegra_. She might not like Charms class and her wand might be geared towards Transfiguration specifically, but that didn't mean she was incapable of using a few enchantments here and there.

"Relax your face," she murmured after a little while. "You look like you have a toothache."

"This is not natural," he replied through grit teeth.

"Of course it isn't, its magic."

After the song had ended she instructed Harry to lead her off the floor and removed the spell from his shoes. Slughorn swept him up immediately, singing praises to his many talents both in and out of the classroom. Deciding to try and enjoy herself for a moment, Lian turned to scan the guests, see if any of the rumored A-listers had actually made an appearance. She'd just laid eyes on one of the members of the Weird Sisters when someone appeared at her elbow. Expecting Adam again she craned her neck back only to see nothing but air. Adjusting her sight she realized she didn't know the man standing before her, only that he was a little too old to be a student. This she concluded because of the scruff on his face.

He gave a bow and offered her his hand. "M'accordez-vous cette danse?"

Lian was taken aback only by his stance, as it was steady. Adam always had two left feet and Harry wasn't the first partner she'd had to enchant. And he either was really French or had simply overheard her use it earlier… Who was this man? Was she cautious enough to enter his mind and seize the answer…or daring enough to accept his offer?

Lian opted for the latter. Placing her left hand in his, she said, "Ne marche pas sur mes orteils."

The wizard straightened, attempting to hide his chuckle beneath a cough, leading her back onto the floor. The quartet paused as it decided on a new selection, and the first notes of the Shostakovich Waltz No. 2 began to fill the enlarged room. Lian began to turn to face him and take first position but he spun her expertly into his arms, and she was a little stunned by the perfect alignment with which he carried himself. The tension in his arms left her with little doubt that he, whoever he was, knew how to lead. All notions of reading his memories and emotions fled her mind as she relaxed into the Viennese waltz.

\-----------------------

"It's said that if you glare at someone long enough their head will burst into flames," Hermione said slyly at Adam's elbow. He glanced down at the bushy haired witch and sighed.

"Don't get my hopes up." He'd finally managed to get away from Slughorn's queries about why Adam hadn't invited his famous father to the event, just in time to see some stranger with his hands on Lian. The full moon was two weeks away, but for the next several minutes Adam could've sworn he felt his claws and fangs growing as the wolf roared in protest.

"If you're so against it, why not cut in?" asked Hermione.

"I can't dance, and she wouldn't accept."

Hermione's reply was a small, "Oh…" She cleared her throat after a pause. "You really fancy her, don't you?"

Adam blinked and tore his eyes away from the intruder on his and Lian's life. "I what her?"

The Gryffindor laughed. "You like her."

"I love her," he corrected unflinchingly. "I always have."

"And she knows?" Hermione glanced between his face and the back of Lian's head. "Of course she knows…and that's why you came to Hogwarts, to be near her again…but does she know about the other thing?" Adam raised his eyebrows at her, inviting her to clarify. Hermione pursed her lips and said, "Lian knows you're a werewolf?"

"Since our first year at school," Adam genuinely smiled at the little witch. "She found out much faster than you did."

Hermione tossed her hair back indignantly. "I've been otherwise occupied, but it's not like you hide it. I'm surprised more people haven't accused you. Having an experienced teacher is one thing but to share a dormitory with-"

"The whole of the House of Hufflepuff knows. I told them." Adam shrugged. "It seemed fair."

“Yes but—” Hermione said exasperatedly. “Why tell people at all? I thought werewolves preferred to keep a low profile amongst other wizards.”

Adam had to remind himself that her only experience with werewolves was the timid and tired Remus Lupin. He raised his eyebrows at her. “If someone asked you if you were a muggleborn would you lie and say you were a pureblood?”

Hermione looked properly admonished by the question. “Well, no.” 

“Shouldn’t you? Muggleborns aren’t exactly popular in the wizarding world, you ought to be ashamed of your parentage and—”

“Stop-! I’m not ashamed and I hear what you’re getting at.” The witch had gone very red in the face when Adam touched on her parents. 

He smiled pleasantly. “Truce?” Without waiting for her reply he looked back at the dance floor just in time to see Lian and the mysterious stranger leave it. The wizard had is hand at her back and for a fraction of a second Adam thought it disappeared in the pocket of her dress robes. There was a white hot flare of protectiveness that blazed inside of him as he surged forward, weaving between guests and party-goers. The wizard bowed to Lian in farewell before turning and making a beeline for the exit. Adam spotted something silver in his hands as the wizard passed Gwenog Jones, something he held with the utmost care, as though afraid that whatever it was would either break or explode. In any case, he’d stolen it from Lian. So Adam was going to get it back.

By the time Adam had stepped out into the corridor he could only spot the heel of the wizard disappearing around the corner. He broke into a run, charging after him in pursuit and when he rounded the corner, his shoes slid on the stone floor and he smacked his head on the landing. Groaning softly he squinted at the three figures standing just out of his reach in the dark hall.

"Who are you?" That was Skinny Brit's voice.

"It matters not," the stranger replied. "All will be made clear in time."

"Keep your distance then," that was Angry Brit. "I said stay aw-"

" _Reminiscus_!" The wizard had drawn his wand faster than Adam's bleary eye could track, and his spell whatever it was seemed to make both Skinny and Angry stumbled back. Then he dropped the thing he'd swiped from Lian onto the stone floor. Adam grit his teeth expecting it to shatter, but it remained intact. Adam blinked and struggled to get back onto his feet, but by the time he'd risen to his knees the strange wizard had vanished. Angry and Skinny exchanged a meaningful look before Angry darted forward and scooped up the silver thing.

"Draco, wait!" Skinny whispered, grabbing his arm.

"She's been lying to us!" Angry growled, trying to shrug him off. "Clearly this can't be trusted in her care. I'm surprised the world hasn't completely collapsed already!"

"She has a reason," Skinny argued. "She always has a reason."

"I don't care. I'm sick of her games, sick of her terms. I'm going to see how this all ends. Not even Kowalski could predict that!"

"Draco, no!" Skinny lunged for the silver thing, and with a soft pop, both of them vanished from the corridor.

Adam got shakily to his feet, his head still pounding from his fall, wondering what in the name of Morrigan he'd just witnessed…and how in the world it all tied back to his Lian.


	13. In Loving Memory

September 2nd, 1996

_ To Whom it May Concern… _

_ Greetings from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Can you imagine my delight when it came to my attention that this school year was going to continue with one extra-large werewolf! ALRIGHT NOW FESS UP, WHO KNEW ABOUT THIS AND WHY WASN'T I INFORMED?!?! CAN ANYONE TELL ME HOW TO SHIP A LYCANTHROPE HOME VIA OWL ORDER?! STOP LAUGHING TRAITORS!!! _

* * *

September 8th, 1996

_ Dear Jules, _

_ Sooooooooooooo, sending us all a Howler was new. And you're right, we were laughing amongst ourselves, but honestly I don't think anyone aside from Adam's siblings knew he was transferring. Sound familiar? Hopefully you've calmed down by now, and hopefully you've given my information to that cute blonde I saw on the train. Just saying. _

_ Love, _

_ Jake _

* * *

September 16th, 1996

_ Dear Jake, _

_ If I created ripples when I came to this place last year, Adam is creating tidal waves. Theo overheard him speaking with a professor about being a werewolf by birth and turns out he's terrified of werewolves and essentially told me to shun Adam from here on out. You can imagine how well that went over. Just when I think some progress could be made around here, I'm reminded that old prejudice runs deep in the veins of this school and its occupants. Change can happen, but not overnight, and definitely not in a year. _

_ And no, I'm not giving you the blonde's information. Don't you have enough skirts to chase back in Ilvermorny? _

_ Love, _

_ Jules _

* * *

September 17th, 1996

_ Dear Jason, _

_ I'm sorry for not replying sooner, but the moment my sixth year began it's been utter chaos. Every night when I hope to lay my head down to sleep I'm subject to listening to Pansy pestering Lian for information on the new transfer. How well did you know a boy called Adam Quince? He's about a foot taller than I, and he seems intelligent and seems to enjoy looking danger in the eye with a grin. He also can't seem to take his hands, eyes and attention off of Lian for longer than a few minutes. Their closeness leads Pansy to think that they're in a relationship. Could I trouble you to shed some light on the matter? _

_ I've been doing well, my sister and I had a wonderful holiday with our parents in Greece. The muggles seem determined to keep old ruins of temples of long forgotten deities. Muggles are funny like that, I suppose. _

_ Did things with your brother improve since your last letter? How is your seventh year treating you thus far? _

_ I hope to hear from you soon. _

_ Yours, _

_ Daphne _

* * *

September 23rd, 1996

_ Dear Daphne, _

_ With two Ilvermorny transfers reigning over the halls I'm surprised Pigpimples is still standing. I give it a month before the place spontaneously combusts. I wish your flowery friend the best of luck cuz when it comes to cracking Julie-Q you need an iron will, a poisoned arrow, and a couple dozen pukwudgies to monitor the situation. Yeah I know Adam, he was a Wampus in my year, and whatever he's like over there he was like right here for five years when Julie was still going to school here. He claims she's his destiny or something, but he's not crazy, all his siblings eventually get that look in their eye. He's got a little brother named Leo that's a year younger than me and we're all just waiting for him to pick a girl and drool after her until she caves. Actually he's got two little brothers but Cas is like 12 years old, he still thinks girls are gross. The point is, Adam's a good guy. I give him a 9/10 with two enthusiastic thumbs up. _

_ This might be a bad time to mention it, but you know my parents and my brother are no-majs, right? That's why he and I are always clashing, Daph, it's always been that way. He gets into fits of jealousy and releases his frustration with his words and his fists and he doesn't care who gets in the way. Believe you me, the day things improve, I will be shouting it from the top of the world, but until then I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop asking. _

_ Seventh year's a blast. _

_ Yours, _

_ Jason _

* * *

October 21st, 1996

_ Dear Daphne, _

_ It's been almost a month since I sent you a letter and I haven't heard back. I didn't mean to sound harsh I just, hoped that you'd be able to understand where I'm coming from. _

_ I miss hearing from you…I hope everything's okay. _

_ Yours, _

_ Jason _

* * *

October 30th, 1996

_ I don't think we should write one another anymore. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Ms. Greengrass _

* * *

November 2nd, 1996

"Daphne!" The young lady in question, who had always prided herself on being well-mannered and polite, screeched at the sight of the boy she'd been trying to put out of her mind forever. A bald-eagle had dived out of the clear sky and just before it crashed into the ground, its talons morphed into feet, the feathers into clothes and the beak into the face of the one and only Jason King. He brandished a scrap of parchment at her, the very note she'd scribed not four days earlier and sent off in the hopes that it would be enough to push him out of her life. "What the-" for the sake of keeping her dignity, Daphne blocked out most of the words he used in the next three seconds before listening again to his speech. "-is this? I go from yours to getting sincerely surnamed in the space of a month?? Who is it, Daph? Who's the-" Again, she made herself forget the words used. She couldn't say why, per say, because she'd forgotten them by the time it was over. "-trying to steal you from me, huh? I want a name!"

Astoria, who had been walking down to Hogsmeade with her, had covered her mouth but Daphne knew it wasn't out of shock. With her light blue eyes sparkling like that she was definitely laughing beneath her fingers. Daphne reached out and nudged her forward. "Go ahead of me, I'll catch up with you later." She waited calmly until her little sister was well out of range before turning her attention on Jason. "I'm not going to repeat myself, Mr. King, and I need to request that you speak to a lady with a more formal tone of voice and to please refrain from slander and scandalous phrases, if you would be so kind. I wrote you of my own accord, there is no one else in my life that, as you put it so elegantly, is trying to steal me from you. Upon reflection of our interactions I have decided that anything more would only make it harder to break it off later as we were inevitably bound-" she paused abruptly when Jason began to wave his hand in her face.

"Can you please not speak to me like you're straight outta Pride and Prejudice?" he asked. "I've been dumped before, so give it to me straight. Are you done with me because I'm a No-Majborn?"

Daphne gulped, her eyes grew warm and itched as tears threatened to manifest themselves. "My parents are traditional, and I'm the oldest daughter. It is expected of me to find someone with blood as pure as mine and spend the rest of my life with them."

"Yeah, and this statue of David-" Jason used a word that made Daphne's cheeks turn pink and exclaim ' _ Jason! _ ' sternly. "-this perfect dude, is he gonna make you feel the way I know I've made you feel?"

Regaining her calm exterior, Daphne squared her shoulders and raised her head, inwardly reminding herself of her mother. "When it comes to matters of blood, Mr. King, I think you'll find that emotions are secondary."

Jason took her hands in his, her note falling onto the grass, and pulled her closer to him. "You're really just gonna throw me away because of some expectation your parents have?"

Daphne took a deep breath. "My parents have given Astoria and me everything. They've kept us safe, happy, and healthy. All my life they've only wanted the best for us, and I trust them. While I acknowledge their views are old fashioned they're not horrible people, and I--Jason!" she pulled back when he tried to lean down for a kiss, tugging her hands free and stepping away.

"I don’t care what your parents say or think,” Jason told her, almost pleadingly. “All I care about is whether breaking things off is going to make you happy. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that?”

Without a moment’s hesitation Daphne replied, “It’s for the best.” Then she turned her face away slightly, signaling that he was dismissed. “Goodbye, Mr. King.”

Jason stood there quietly for another moment or two, before he transformed into his eagle animagus and took off into the sky. Only when he was nothing more than a speck in the distance did Daphne allow the tears to fall.

...

“Do you think they’d really want us in their defense club, assuming Snape agrees to it and everything?” Pansy was asking Lian loudly as Daphne entered the dormitory. It had been a busy day, after sobbing for what felt like a thousand years she’d managed to make it the rest of the way to Hogsmeade, pull Astoria away from the shelves of Zonko’s Joke Shop, and followed Draco and Theodore into the Three Broomsticks where it seemed almost everyone in their year in the other houses had congregated. Something about rebooting a fight club. Daphne thought it would be an excellent distraction while she quietly moved on from her summer fling and spoke in support of it.

“Why wouldn’t they?” Lian replied, not looking up from a tome Daphne knew she’d ‘liberated’ from the restricted section. The entire thing was written in Latin—how Lian was able to decipher anything, the rest of the girls had no clue. “They let Theo and I join last year.”

“Well nobody says no to you,” Pansy scoffed. “Besides, you and Theo haven’t bullied the rest of them for the last six years…” she coughed, covering her embarrassment. “A certain Gryffindor in particular has a long memory…”

“Hermione’s willing to bury the hatchet if you are, Pans.” Lian said in a bored voice. Daphne removed her school robes and changed into her night gown as she listened to their exchange.

“Perhaps, but I’m more concerned with where she wants to bury it. In the ground or in my chest…” Pansy grimaced, then when she looked around and realized Lian wasn’t even looking at her she threw one of her pillows at the book. “Pay attention to me!”

It hit Lian squarely in the face. They all heard a muffled, “I am.” The pillow was lifted with the steel arm and chucked back with frightening accuracy. “Hey Daph,” the American glanced over to where Daphne was pulling back her covers and settling down for the night. “I thought I saw Jason flying over Hogsmeade today—didn’t stop to say hi to me, was he here for a visit?”

Daphne froze as Pansy began to squeal. Millie, who was already dead to the world, snored loudly. Lian was clever like that, when she wanted the focus off of herself she would point out a random fact about someone else in the room, and suddenly everyone would forget about her and she could do as she pleased. It was a skill Daphne could observe and recognize but never hope to accomplish.

“He was here, yes.” She said curtly. “We’re not going to be writing one another anymore.” There was no point in hiding it. Jason was Lian’s best friend, and if not from Daphne, her housemate would certainly find out from him. However, what she did not anticipate was Lian shutting the enormous book with an almost thunderous clap, and turning very sharp brown eyes on her. “What happened?”

“Did he cheat on you?” Pansy demanded.

“No, he was a perfect gentleman,” she reflected quietly on his language earlier that day and amended, “…for the most part. But it would never have worked out between us, so I made the decision to break it off.”

“Without consulting me?!?” Pansy wailed. “What was the matter with him—he was hot! And intelligent, idiots don’t typically learn how to be an animagi!”

Daphne didn’t really want to discuss the matter so she simply said, “We’re too different.” She glanced at Lian and for a moment felt afraid. The American wore a very cold expression, the likes of which only someone like Draco Malloy could achieve. Maybe those two had spent too much time together.

“You didn’t know he was a No-Majborn, did you.” It was not a question. The next statement sent shivers down Daphne’s spine. “He’s too good for you, anyway.”

Then Lian turned her face away, just as Daphne had to Jason, dismissing her, opened her book and continued to read as though nothing had happened.

* * *

November 25th, 1996

_ Dearest Sera, _

_ I would have to say the weirdest thing about going to school at Pigpimples is the fact that they don’t have Thanksgiving marked as a holiday. They don’t even serve turkey the day of—I mean I guess on some level I shouldn’t expect it but still. It’s like when you step down but the the next step is a lot farther than you’d predicted and you have that awkward stumble. But then you get back on balance and go about your day. _

_ Jake told me that you seem to have taken a shine to a certain wolf. Don’t forget, girls mature faster than boys so he’s going to think you’re gross until you’re both 14, but by then you’ll have a new shine and it will be too late for him. Such is life. Besides, Matt and I have already planned your betrothal to Joey, so… ;) _

_ Adam and I wore our Ilvermorny colors for a few days, initially to make a point, but then we just kept wearing them. I had to blend in last year but this year I just miss the way it was before. I wish I could see you in the hallways and the library, watch quadpot matches with you and Jake. That would be so much fun. Maybe I’ll come back for my seventh year, but you didn’t hear that from me. _

_ Love, _

_ Ju-ju _

* * *

December 2nd, 1996

_ Dear Ju-ju, _

_ It would be so awesome if you came back to Ilvermorny next year!! I promise I won’t say anything until it’s definite but a year under my sisters wing would be pretty awesome, I’m just saying! _

_ Jake’s a big fat liar! Boys my age are dumb—my heart belongs to whichever one you don’t want, remember? By the way, with Adam being there and all, does that mean I can have Theo? _

_ Love, _

_ Fi _

December 17th, 1996

* * *

_ Dear diary, _

_ I forgot to take you to Hogwarts. My bad. You didn’t miss much. I’ve tried to use the silver time-turner but it doesn’t operate like a normal hourglass in the slightest. There’s no way to turn back the hours, on some level I feel like it was only designed to send the user to that strange desert with the horrible groaning wind. I know that’s not true because I went back to 1971 with Draco and Theo to save that boy… I think Theo’s been fighting the memory modification, I’ve caught him staring at the whomping willow a few times the past few months. I don’t know what I’ll do if he or Draco remember the hourglass… I've had a lot of headaches in these past few months and I was having trouble concentrating, but no worries, I’ve been taking doses of the draught of peace to keep things quiet up there. The potion was Professor Snape's idea, I was unable to concoct any ideas of my own while wrestling with magical migraines. _

_ I quit the team and I've trusted individual practice to Draco and Theo for the time being…I need all the extra time I can snag for my research. I wish I'd started last year but I didn't have time between being blackmailed and raining hellfire and brimstone down on everybody. Then I had to leave early because of that ministry fiasco…I still can't explain what possessed me to stop that spell. Apparently the famous murderer Sirius Black was falsely accused and cleared of all charges over the summer. So, already he had a better holiday than I, ha. _

_ I love that I get to be at Hogwarts and learn about magical creatures--oh yeah, I'm the only sixth year who kept the class so I'm basically getting private lessons from the half-giant. We mainly talk about dragons, which is a hoot and a half. But I'm almost tempted to drop it because then I'd have a free period to just work on what's really important…I'd go into details but I'm almost certain one of my siblings will try and read this later…which means I should probably burn you. _

_ Sorry diary. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ JQK _

* * *

December 20th, 1996

I woke up to the smell of bacon. Lots of it. I sat up straight so suddenly I got dizzy, but there was no place for me to be smelling breakfast in the dormitory. Maybe Crabbe had snuck into the kitchens again. Blinking around at my surroundings I expected to see the green hangings of my bed, but instead I saw I was on a bed without a shred of privacy. As my eyes adjusted to the gloom, I spotted four other beds in the rather large room, but it wasn't the Slytherin dormitory. The only source of light came from the corridor I could see through a door frame that did not in fact have a door. The blanket that had been covering me appeared to be fashioned from fur, though from what kind of animal I had no way of telling. The bed itself was quite large, the mattress almost too firm for my liking. The other four beds were empty, but they each had signs of their recent occupants. I noticed that one of them wasn't even made--a mark of a lazy house-elf.

My stomach grumbled, reminding me that I was hungry. Maybe whoever was cooking could explain how I'd come to wake in this strange place. Half expecting some stunt pulled by Blaise or Pansy, I swung my legs out from under the furry blanket and proceeded to stumble out of the dark room. I was dimly aware that my sleep clothes hung off my frame strangely, and it was only after I'd passed near a sconce that I realized I'd never seen the clothes before. It was a long white t-shirt with red letters saying "I" and then what seemed to be a large maple leaf, followed by the word "Canada". The pants were long and part of the reason I was stumbling was the fact that my toes kept tangling in the cuffs. These clothes belonged to someone much bigger than myself…

I found a staircase and saw light at the top, accompanied with busy noise of a great number of people, and the wonderful smell of food. Still too exhausted and dazed to have the sense to exercise caution, I climbed on up, and emerged into a large kitchen. But I had little time to admire the upholstery as I recognized only one of the people in the room. And the panic began to set in.

A freckled young man sitting beside Quince saw me first. "Skinny's awake," he called above the chatter. Instantly I had sixteen pairs of eyes on my shabbily put together person, and the instinct to retreat to the room without light and hide under a blanket of fur practically overwhelmed me.

Before I could move however, the person nearest me clapped a long, muscular arm around my shoulders. I felt my entire spine shudder at the collision. "Good morning, Skinny! Have some breakfast!" The man had scruff, but in a neat sort of way as though he'd just shaved down from a full beard. "You lot, make some room for Skinny," he made a 'shooing' motion at the people sitting near the end of the table. A woman with a swollen belly made as if to move before the man who held me captive barked, "Not you, Chevy. Skinny, meet Chevy, my favorite daughter-in-law." He brought me to the table and sat me down beside her.

"Oy!" a young woman with dark skin cried indignantly. "What about me?"

The man who now had his heavy hands on both shoulders amended his previous statement. "Chevy is my favorite pregnant daughter-in-law. Nani is my favorite daughter-in-law who has yet to promise me a grandchild."

The pregnant one, Chevy, had dark red hair and pale skin. She smiled at me as a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes was set before me. "M'name's actually Siobhan," she said in an Irish lilt, surprising me a little. I thought they'd all be American. "But everyone gets a nickname in this house." I bobbed my head in reply, not really sure how to respond.

What was I doing here? I looked around at Quince for help, but he was smirking into his orange juice. The man with his hands on me nodded at Siobhan. "Look at you, reminding me of my manners. That's why you're my favorite." This time he ignored the indignant uproar from the rest of the people. "Skinny, it's a delight to meet you while you're conscious, I'm Hawthorne Quince, but please call me Thorn." He gestured across and down the table at the other 15 people. "This miserable lot are my children. And that stunning creature over there-" he nodded at the woman with the long dark hair vanishing bacon grease from the stove with her wand. "-is my beautiful queen, Winnie."

The name Hawthorne Quince sounded familiar but I wasn't entirely sure why. But I had more important things to resolve just then. "How did I get here?"

"Ooh he does talk!" The youngest exclaimed. I assumed he was the youngest as he was the smallest present. "I mean, he talks funny, but he talks!"

The boy sitting behind him cuffed the youngest upside the head. "Cas, don't be rude, he can hear you."

Cas recoiled, rubbing at his head. "Ow! I'm just saying!" he then turned to Quince for help. "Adam, Leo hit me!"

"Suck it up." Adam replied, finally turning his gaze on me. "To answer your question that only Chevy and I understood, I brought you."

I clenched my fists. "Why? What gave you the right?!" I'd been wracking my mind until then and I still couldn't remember anything about agreeing to meet the Quince family.

"Eat," the queen, Winnie, commanded as she moved over to the table. "You can ask questions when you fill your belly. By the looks of you, that doesn't happen all too often."

I received a condescending look from the young woman sitting directly in front of me. She had chestnut brown hair and sharp amber colored eyes. "Not to mention it's harder to be angry on a full stomach."

Siobhan clicked her tongue. "Go easy on him Titan, he's intimidated and confused."

I took a bite of the eggs hesitantly. What if they were poisoned or something? But then my hunger took over and I ate with the gusto of Crabbe  _ and _ Goyle. Winnie looked on with a pleased smile. "Oh that's the best compliment I've been given this morning." A statement which was soon followed with cries from the others about how delicious the meal had been and how dazzlingly pretty she was at this hour. It was only after I finished off three pancakes, two servings of eggs and more bacon then I care to admit that I recognized that none of the children referred to Winnie as their mother, though that's what she clearly had to be, for most of them, anyway. No, if anything, they called her Alpha.

And the panic began to creep back through my mind. As clearly as though I was back at Hogwarts in September, listening to Quince and Lupin speak for the first time I recalled,  _ “You mean...your parents are also-” _

_ “My mom is, and that’s the important part. Dad’s just a wizard. But my nine siblings and I--all werewolves.” _

I bolted to my feet and backed away from the table so quickly I knocked my chair over with a loud clatter. They were all looking at me again. And at least eleven of them were werewolves. I could feel my heart hammering against my ribcage as I reached for my wand, only to remember that I was wearing someone else's clothes, why would my wand be in the pockets? I glared at Quince who didn't look surprised by my actions one bit, a stark contrast to the rest of the occupants in the room. "Where's my wand?!"

Thorn looked confused. "What do you need it for? Thought you couldn't use it out of school."

"I'm of age--where is it Quince!"

"Sweetheart," Winnie said calmly. "Most of us are Quinces. Call my son Adam, please, I didn't give him a perfectly good first name so it would be overlooked."

Quince had risen to his feet and placed his hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Alpha, really."

She gave him a sharp glance. "It most certainly is not! I thought you said he was your friend, why's he acting this way?"

"He's fine, he's just scared," Quince explained.

"Of what?" Thorn asked.

"Werewolves," Quince replied casually. His parents and all his siblings all opened their mouths in a shared, silent, 'Oh.'

Winnie looked back at me and placed a hand to her chest. "Oh my dear boy, there's nothing to be afraid of--no harm will come to you, not in my den."

"House, dear," Thorn said, as if reminding her what the structure was called.

"That too."

"WHERE'S MY WAND?" I didn't intend to shout, but the fact that they were practically ignoring my plight was irritating and stirring my fear. The woman, Titan, was back with her condescending look.

"Easy, Skinny Brit, we don't shout in this household." Then she grinned wickedly. "We howl."

Quince had crossed the room in seconds before I could yell again and frog marched me into the room adjacent. It was likely their sitting room, but there was so many couches and armchairs of all shapes, styles and colors it looked rather random and shabby. I was breathing shallowly, noticing random details about the place in case they came in handy later. For instance I registered that the walls, ceiling and floor were all made of wood. The windows let in light but gave no clear image of the surrounding scenery. Enchanted or intentionally designed? There were pictures on the walls, and every single one of them moved. There was an enormous stone fireplace in the sitting room, but none of the chairs or couches were placed near it, instead there was a large circular rug. Was it strange that it appeared to be more used than the rest of the places to sit in the room?

I turned back to look up at Quince and saw that Siobhan, another young man who had yet to be identified, and Thorn had followed us in here. Ignoring them for now, I focused back on Quince. "Why did you bring me here??"

"What do you remember?" he asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"It was…Saturday night…I was walking with Draco and…I…"

Thorn raised his eyebrows. "Curious. Someone definitely meddled with his memories."

_ Memories _ ! I blinked as I recalled the memory charm Lian had placed on Draco and myself, she'd made us forget she had a time-turner! But why? There had to be a reason, Lian always had a reason…but why had I remembered that? As powerful a Legilimens as she should have been able to place a powerful spell on us…something equally powerful had to have triggered the return…

Adam cleared his throat to get my attention back. "I saw you two that night. You both vanished into thin air and were gone for three days. By the time anyone found you the Hogwarts express had already left for London. I was planning on traveling home by floo, with permission from Dumbledore, but I caught your scents back in the castle and that's when I stumbled on you. Draco was gone but you were completely disoriented. I asked if you were going home for the holidays and you said you had no one at home and I thought Christmas alone was the most depressing thing I'd ever heard, so, I asked if you wanted to come with me. You didn't say yes, but I couldn't just leave you there." He shrugged. "You're welcome to leave with your wand as soon as you explain where you and Draco disappeared to."

"Adam," the unnamed man said sternly. "You heard Dad, he has signs of memory modification. He might not know anymore."

"Then I guess he's in for a wolfish Christmas."

"You can't hold me here against my will!" I snarled. I was getting really tired of having all their gazes turn on me in perfect unison. "Return my wand and I'll be on my way!"

"How? Are you going to apparate? You're only a sixth year so you can't have learned how yet. You don't know how to make a portkey and you need government permission, from two different ministries." Thorn's friendly manner had dropped to reveal a rather shrewd and businesslike one. "And our floo network won't reopen until the 1st of January, per our agreement with the school's headmaster and both ministries as I said before. I'm not apparating you half way across the globe, I finally got work off to be with my family. So tell me, how exactly would you get home?"

I cleared my throat. "I'd summon the Knight Bus if it came down to it."

Thorn looked at Adam, who shrugged. "The what?"

"Magical transportation? I can flag them down and-"

"Sorry luv," Siobhan gave me a sympathetic smile. "But you're a wee bit out of their range."

I rounded back on Adam. "Where are we??"

He sighed. "If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I live in Alaska."

I squinted at the four of them in turn before crying, "Where the hell is Alaska?!"

\---

Spending the holiday break trapped in a werewolf den was not my idea of fun. But Thorn had a point, in that there was no feasible way for me to return to England, and after the first day and being fed three meals of Winnie's extraordinary cooking, I stopped bellyaching about the matter. When I tried to hide in the room I'd initially awoken in, I was only followed by the four other occupants. Adam explained that as they were still the 'singles' of the household, they all shared the big room. Apparently their older siblings were married and shared smaller 'dens' with their spouses. I couldn't believe how they all kept track of their names given the number of people living there alone but somehow I began to connect it all in my mind. I was struck by how cozy and familiar they all were--I'd never been as close with my own father as Adam seemed to be with all fifteen of his family members. In the room I'd been granted to sleep in I was expected to share space with Adam, an older boy named Kristopher, or 'River', and the younger brothers by name of Leo and Cas. Cas was twelve and very enthusiastic about my accent, even though it apparently was too strange for him to understand. Leo was just a year younger than Adam, my age, I came to realize, as he was in his sixth year at Ilvermorny. The realization that Adam had opted to retake his sixth year rather than finish school hit me like a cave troll. I was only halfway through sixth year and I already wanted to be done.

The next day I found out rather quickly who was and wasn't a werewolf in the Quince household. With the full moon on the rise, it was all bright yellow eyes and bushy haired people plying liberal amounts of syrup or jam to their waffles. Siobhan's husband, who I later learned was named Shepherd and was the oldest son of Winnie and Thorn, ate his with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Winnie made a point of feeding me no less than four waffles, as though I was training for an eating competition. I couldn't exactly refuse her either, when she'd sat me at the bar apart from the rest, right next to the waffle maker. "How'd you sleep?" she'd asked when I was halfway through the second waffle. "I've noticed Cas has started to snore."

I raised my head and locked with her surprisingly blue gaze. I saw nothing but kindness in them, which only convinced me that she was an especially good liar, knowing there was a monster behind those eyes, however blue. Nonetheless, I couldn't bring myself to whine about how all four of my roommates had snored so loudly I was surprised they hadn't awoken the entire den. So I deflected with a question of my own. "Why aren't your eyes yellow? You're a werewolf too."

Winnie's mouth twitched. "That I am. But I'm also in perfect control, and therefore my eyes remain the color I was born with." She glanced at her children with an almost smug expression. "You'll notice Siobhan's eyes remain green this morning. That's her mothering instincts taking over, so she and her wolf are perfectly in sync."

The relief that had flooded my system when I believed that the Irish girl was a normal witch quickly fled as my eyes raked the table again. Adam's eyes were still a bright yellow, the condescending one's as well. But a few of them had normal eyes and I wasn't sure how I felt about that. "Are all of them-?" I couldn't bring myself to ask, afraid she'd say yes.

Winnie chuckled, probably smelling my fear. "Arthur isn't, and neither is Carlos or Nadia," she said, pointing each of them out as she spoke. Then she made a huge circle around the rest of the people. "All of my children are, and Siobhan and Logan," she pointed to the freckled man sitting beside the condescending girl. "Siobhan was a loner before she met Shepherd, but she's adjusting nicely. Logan and Anthem usually run with his pack over in Quebec, but it pays to have a loyal daughter." She paused, probably noticing my confusion and discomfort. "What's wrong, dear?"

Adam sat beside me just then, appearing from nowhere and licking what appeared to be peanut butter from his lips. "Alpha, they don't teach werewolf society at Pigpimples, cut him some slack."

Winnie's brows came together as she looked at me. "What do they teach about werewolves at your school, then?"

The impertinent side of me, the part that sounded an awful lot like Lian, wanted to remind her that it was her son's school now too. "We learned about them in third year…basic stuff like when they change, the potency of their venom, and how to distinguish a regular wolf from a werewolf…" As I answered the question, Winnie's face became a bit more clouded and I could only imagine the vengeance she wanted to unleash on the very man who taught my classmates and me all of those things: Professor Severus Snape. "Granted he taught us that stuff so we'd realize that the regular teacher, whom he was subbing for, was in fact a werewolf…"

"So you were taught information a child should know before they learn to ride a broom, from a man who probably hates lycanthropes to begin with." Winnie said sharply, ending breakfast right then and there. Every one of her children and child-in-laws dropped their utensils and looked around with wide eyes. "Was this your Care of Magical Creatures, class?"

I almost didn't want to answer, but I knew Adam would if I didn't. "It was actually, well…Defense Against the Dark Arts." Over at the table, a few of her sons hissed at my answer.

"It's not that surprising," Thorn said over his mug. He'd been reading the morning paper until that moment. "In my travels I've never met a European lycanthrope who could keep their right mind on the full moon. One in particular didn't even care to keep up his human side. He'd actually filed his teeth into fangs and grown his nails out like claws…what was his name?"

"Fenrir," I whispered, catching only Winnie and Adam's attention, but neither pressed me for more information. As Thorn had described him my mind had summoned his image as though he was standing over the bar, prepared to rip out Winnie's throat. Clearing my own I looked back at Winnie. "When is the full moon, exactly?"

"The 23rd through the 25th," she replied, her expression clearing instantly, contrasting my look of pure horror.

"Yes but don't forget the almost 7 hours of sunlight in those three days," Adam said quickly, wrapping his arm about my shoulders.

"I thought werewolves only turned once a month!" I cried in a panicky voice.

"We turn when the moon is full," Cas corrected me, before spraying whipped cream into River's nose.

"But why three days?" I demanded, glaring up at Adam as I sensed that doing so to Winnie would be a mistake.

"Three reasons," Adam began. "One, it's December. Two, we're about 200 miles south of the arctic circle, and three: because Alpha said so." He frowned for a moment before adding, "No wait, that's the answer to a different argument…"

"Speaking of, we're short on daylight," Thorn glanced at the clock on the wall. "I want everybody who's not giving me a grandchild outside in ten minutes!"

With Adam's arm still around my neck I had little choice but to go downstairs. Everyone minus Shepherd and Siobhan marched down into the humongous cellar and split off to their different living arrangements. As his brothers changed out of their pajamas, Adam opened up a wardrobe at the foot of the bed I'd been sleeping on and tossed what appeared to be a muggle snow coat and pants of the same material. Then a hat and gloves for good measure it seemed. "You're gonna want these."

It dawned on me then that I still hadn't technically seen outside of the house. Their strange windows only provided light, after all. "A winter cloak would be just fine."

"There might be no-majs going cross country," Leo replied, stumbling into River as he pulled his jeans on. "It's better you blend in with those."

The winter wear, as usual, belonged to someone much bigger than myself, but the extra space almost provided extra comfort, so I saw no need to complain any further. Although I couldn't help but stare as werewolves 1-10 all paraded out the front door and onto the wrap around porch with nothing heavier than what had to be a rain jacket. Those that had been pointed out to me earlier, spouses Arthur, (a blond fellow with big ears) Carlos, (apparently from the country Nicaragua) and Nadia were similarly clothed like myself. Nadia took notice of my bewildered expression and smiled. "They don't really notice the cold. Something in their genetic make-up I think."

"It's magic," Carlos said gruffly, before sending me a toothy grin.

"I'm pretty sure it’s a Canadian thing," Arthur said with a shrug. "I was raised in Miami myself so I've actually got on about six layers under this coat."

"I've travelled the world over but I will say one of my favorite places is London. Where abouts are you from, Skinny?" Nadia asked, walking out into the sunlight and gesturing for me to follow.

I was blinded by the snow at first, and shocked by the sheer amount. The house had to be enchanted because about 600 feet away the snow was piled significantly higher than the drifts around the porch. I imagined from the outside it might look like a snow globe. Sunbeams filtered down through thick pine trees, the scent of fresh snow and sap almost overwhelming me. Nadia chatted with me about England, relaxing me only a bit. The sight of 10 werewolves, wait, 9…shouldn't there be 10? Shepherd and Siobhan were both wolves, but Adam had 8 other siblings and then a brother-in-law so…why did I only see 9 werewolves throwing snowballs at one another?

"Nadia?"

"Hmm?"

"Who are you married to, again?" I know she'd told me but it was only day 2 of my life with the wolves.

She raised a gloved hand and pointed to a young man with light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was about as tall as I was, and when he spotted Nadia pointing at him he waved cheerfully. "That's my idiot, Fitzgerald." Then, as he was hit square in the face with a huge missile from Adam, she added, "But you can call him Blitz."

The way she'd said 'idiot' was with such fondness and love I almost blushed. Or maybe I was cold; probably both. "How many of them are there?"

"You mean the siblings?" she bit her lip. "Well, that depends."

"On what?"

Nadia bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, molding into a ball as she stood again. "On how good of a friend you are to Adam. I don't think I can tell you if you don't know." She then fired her snowball at Adam, hitting the small of his back. It exploded but he barely seemed to notice getting hit. Having Cas chew on his leg while River and Samantha tackled him might have had something to do with that.

They were all so happy. So light-hearted and perfectly content being in close quarters with one another. In the social circles I'd been raised in, small families lived in large mansions and manors and each individual had their own wing to do whatever hobbies or studies they liked. I couldn't imagine being raised in such a friendly, almost loose environment. Seeing Adam wrestle with his siblings like this…I nearly forgot they were monsters.

* * *

December 23rd, 1996

"Three days??" Tonks slurred at her three, admittedly blurred, cousins Sirius Black. "He's going to be like that for three whole days?"

"Yep." The Sirius triplets hiccupped in unison. "Three, furry,  fucking days."

"Languish!" Tonks giggled. "Molly's going to skin you alive."  She went to sit up but only fell back against her chair. "I don' wan' 'im to be a wolf for three days. Wot a terrble Chrishmush…" her eyelids drooped and she snored loudly within minutes. Sirius continued to slur at her for the next hour. Nobody could really remember why they'd been drinking to begin with, it had started so long ago. Harry turned to Ron, who was halfway through his second cup of hot cocoa. "Have you heard from Hermione at all?" They'd been on break for nearly a week and they hadn't exactly ended the first half of their sixth year on good terms. Ron had been so engrossed in his relationship with Lavender Brown that he'd allowed certain other things to slide, like his friendship with Hermione. Harry wasn't all too pleased with Ron either to be honest, but his sense of loyalty would not let him drop their friendship the way Hermione had been dropped.

Ron set his mug down, a chocolate moustache drying on his upper lip as he scrutinized Harry. "No, why?"

Harry shrugged. "Just wondering… Did you hear about who she went to Slughorn's party with?" Ron shook his head, likely wondering why it should matter to him as he raised his mug to his lips for another gulp. Harry cleared his throat. "She was there with Zabini."

As Ron choked on hot cocoa, Harry felt a sick sense of glee. He smirked at his best friend as he coughed up his drink everywhere. "S-Seamus said she was going with McLaggen!"

"Seamus wasn't there, what does he know?" Harry replied dismissively. "Anyway, didn't Fred and George mention something about expanding their-"

"Why would she go with a Slytherin?? She's not stupid, she has to know about Zabini's history!" Ron raged, wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

That caught Harry's attention. "What d'you mean, his 'history'?"

"His mum--she's married over seven wealthy wizards who've all mysteriously died and left their fortunes to her. Zabini can't be right in the head after being raised by a woman like that!"

Harry could only shrug once more. "Well he was right in the head enough to score a date with Hermione."

Ron curled his lip. "Yeah, or she was desperate enough to consent…"

* * *

December 26th, 1996

I awoke with a start. The last thing I remembered was shivering horribly under the fur blanket, but when I opened my eyes I was no longer beneath fur on a hard bed. I was lying in a heap on the rug by the fireplace, and I was very much aware that I was not alone. Someone was breathing deeply in my ear and I wasn't sure I wanted to know who it was. I could feel someone else resting their head on my legs, but thankfully I was still in my "I [maple leaf] Canada" sleep shirt and the wool pants that easily drowned my feet by sheer length alone. The same could not be said for those surrounding me. A door somewhere down the hallway opened up and I heard someone yawning, though I heard no footsteps upon the floor. To me, that meant it had to be Winnie. She had a way of sneaking around without making a single noise. My suspicion was confirmed when she paused just within my line of sight, and she smiled at the scene before her.

"I take it you were cold in the night," she said in a hushed voice. "Cas doesn't normally display such charity in wolf form."

"How did a twelve year old move me without waking me up?" I whispered back, not daring to move my lips if I could avoid it.

"Well as wolves, he'd be the only one still small enough to fit downstairs, but strong enough to lift you." Winnie tiptoed over River and Logan, gently pulling Adam and Leo away from me so I could get to my knees, then feet.

"Why move me at all, though?" I frowned down at them, grateful I hadn't awoken to find myself in a dogpile with werewolves. The shock would have killed me.

"Probably to save you. I'd hate to explain to your headmaster how we kidnapped one of his students and then let him freeze to death in the middle of the night." Winnie headed into the kitchen, closely followed by myself. "Werewolves have the softest underbellies, you were in good paws."

I tried not to think too hard about that statement. "So even while turned, they have compassion?"

Winnie poured me a glass of orange juice and sighed as she set it before me. "Theodore, the beauty in being a werewolf is having human emotions while being transformed. It's difficult to achieve, perhaps, but the younger they learn, the better control they have. Do you think for one second my pups would be as level headed had they not been raised by their mother? I am their Alpha, yes, but I will always be their mother, as a wolf and a witch. Learning the balance between the two halves is the only way my children will become whole. Most of them found control around the age of seven, just in time for their magical abilities to wake up and start causing problems on that scale."

I frowned as her words washed over me. "But you said that you and Siobhan were the only ones in perfect control."

Winnie nodded. "Yes, because I no longer see my witch self and my wolf self as separate entities. I have long since embraced who and what I am and therefore I am no longer divided against myself. Adam and all his siblings are still trying to bridge that gap. Shepherd's pretty close actually, but even he has rough days. Hopefully that'll change when his little girl is born," she clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oops. Don't repeat that last bit, neither of them know. The point is; werewolves aren't monsters, so long as they stick together."

I sat at the empty table, my brain throbbing with all the information I never knew existed. My nose itched like I was about to sneeze and I didn't realize my eyes were wet until Winnie handed me a tissue. "I…I never knew…" as the realization hit home the tears fell freely and I hid my face. Winnie didn't press me for information or pester me or leave, like I'd have expected from anyone else. She simply sat with me and rubbed my back as I cried. Memories from that night flashed before my mind's eye, I could still feel her blood spurt against my skin, still hear her screaming for mercy… "I was seven," I heard my own voice admit between sobs. I'd known the woman only a few days but I think I trusted her more than literally anyone else in my life. "The muggle village near my home was being terrorized by him, by Greyback…" my nose was runny so I sniffed loudly. "Father warned us to stay within the grounds, they were protected, but I wandered too far…" I could perfectly recall how mischievous I'd felt as I deliberately crossed into the fields beyond the mansion. I didn't understand what a werewolf really was, it wasn't as though it was in any of the picture books I'd been given. My parents were older when they finally had me, and therefore had a more traditional perspective. They didn't want to scare me with horrible stories about werewolf bites and vampire killings…looking back now I really wish they had… "The moon was full that night, and he was already tearing up an entire muggle family when he heard me crashing around outside…" I could still see him charging at me, his fangs bright red, his maw coated with blood, orange eyes full of malice. "I was frozen in terror, and I should've died."  _ I wish I'd died _ , I added silently. Winnie didn't ask, she only continued to rub my back, although somehow she'd lured me into an embrace with my cheek resting on her shoulder. I was vaguely aware of how strong she was then, but too distressed to care. "And then she came…she stood between me and him, no wand, no plan…she'd seen me leave the gardens and followed after me to bring me home." I trembled remembering the next bit. "She still had her knitting needles with her.  She stabbed one into his throat …so while he recoiled she grabbed my hand and we ran as hard as we could." Every time I pushed my body to the point where I was gasping for air and my lungs felt like nothing more than shredded remains it triggered this memory. That was another reason I'd avoided playing quidditch for so long. "I could hear him growling and breathing, almost down my neck. Home was looming in sight, and when the perimeter of the protection spell was near she picked me up and hurled me across. When I looked back, he'd caught her…" By then my voice was shaking so badly I couldn't continue, let alone breathe properly. I'll never know how long I sat there, weeping into her shoulder. She never moved, never faltered, never stopped rubbing my back. And she never said a word, she only let me grieve quietly. When I finally tried to pull away and rub my eyes I couldn't. Turning my head I realize d that I was in the middle of a great big Quince family bear hug. How many of them had eavesdropped? I was too drained of energy protest or complain. On some level I imagined it to be karma for eavesdropping on Adam way back in September. Eventually, long after I'd relaxed in the embrace and resigned myself to the notion that it was a Canadian thing, little Caspian piped up with, "So that Greyback guy killed your mom?" followed by several kicks or smacks from his older brothers, reprimanding and hissing that he be more sensitive.

"No." I croaked. "He only bit her, and then let her go. She crawled back into the gardens and held me as she sobbed and made sure that I was safe…and then the following night she was murdered by my father. He thought death was a better fate for her than to turn into a wolf every month." The tension that followed that admission was suffocating as each of the werewolves in the huddle thought about that for the next few minutes.

"Rat bastard," Thorn growled, followed by grunts of agreement from his sons.

"After all that you still stayed with us. Trusted us… How?" Winnie murmured in soft disbelief.

"Because despite being brought here without my consent," I elbowed the person I thought was Adam. Instead, Samantha squeaked in surprise. "Sorry, Anthem. Despite that, I have felt more at home in this frozen, forgotten corner of Fairbanks, Alaska than I have living under the same roof as my mother's killer for nine years." I turned my head until I found Adam's face. "So thank you."

His eyes were a dark gold, heavy with more emotion than I thought possible for someone like him. When he answered his voice was soft. "Well hey…if you ever need to get kidnapped again, you know who to call."


End file.
